Biography
Mike J. Lindway was an Industrial Workers of the World machinist involved in the National Screw and Manufacturing Company strike in Cleveland. On March 27, 1935, police searched his home without a warrant while he was away. He pleaded not guilty to possessing bombs and ammunition with unlawful intent and challenged the admission of the seized evidence. His conviction brought a twenty-year prison sentence. The Ohio Supreme Court upheld the use of the evidence in May 1936, and the United States Supreme Court dismissed his appeal that October. He was confined in the Ohio Penitentiary at Columbus, and the IWW organized a defense campaign that also supported his wife and daughter, Mary Leona. He was released in 1946.
The December 1937 General Defense Committee appeal confirms Lindway’s current confinement at Columbus and names his little daughter Mary Leona. It describes attorney Morris Wolf’s evidence-suppression challenge, a favorable Court of Appeals ruling, adverse Ohio Supreme Court ruling, United States Supreme Court dismissal and subsequent federal district litigation. Its allegation that police planted bombs is attributed to the defense committee, not stated as an adjudicated fact. Customary Christmas relief was $20 per prisoner and $50 to a principal dependent; proposed litigation is not a release. The captioned family photograph identifies Mike Lindway. Source: https://files.libcom.org/files/OBUMdecember1937.pdf#page=19
