Biography
Robert Champion Ekins was a Connecticut Communist Party organizer prosecuted in the New Haven Smith Act case. A jury convicted him on March 29, 1956. He remained free on bail while appealing, and the Second Circuit reversed the conviction and dismissed the indictment on September 11, 1957. Arrested May 29, 1954 in the Connecticut Smith Act roundup. On June 16, 1954, he remained in New Haven County Jail because he could not raise bail; the previous day his bail had been reduced from $20,000 to $10,000. He was subsequently released on bail, and a February 23, 1955 court ruling confirms that all seven original defendants were then at liberty. His exact jail admission and release dates, and total time detained, remain unverified.
Documented pretrial detention
Arrested May 29, 1954 in the Connecticut Smith Act roundup. On June 16, 1954, he remained in New Haven County Jail because he could not raise bail; the previous day his bail had been reduced from $20,000 to $10,000. He was subsequently released on bail, and a February 23, 1955 court ruling confirms that all seven original defendants were then at liberty. His exact jail admission and release dates, and total time detained, remain unverified.
Sources: Manchester Evening Herald, June 16, 1954, page 14, “State Reds Unable To Raise Cut Bail”; United States v. Silverman, February 23, 1955, 129 F. Supp. 496, 514; UConn Archives, original seven-defendant leaflet (May 29 arrest date and identities).
The June 16, 1954 Manchester Evening Herald report identifies Judge Robert P. Anderson as the judge who reduced the original seven New Haven defendants’ bail the preceding day, over the objection of Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis J. McNamara. These are specifically the bail-hearing roles, not newly established prison-admission or release dates. The DOJ United States Attorneys Bulletin of April 13, 1956 identifies the Connecticut prosecution staff as Simon Cohen, Francis J. McNamara, William F. O’Donnell and John C. Keeney. The already recorded jail stay and case disposition remain unchanged. The bulletin separately reports that on April 2, 1956 Judge Robert P. Anderson imposed a six-month contempt sentence on Robert C. Ekins for refusing to answer trial questions. This is an imposed judicial sentence, not proof that Ekins actually entered custody or served six months; it is not merged into the known 1954 pretrial detention. Bail-hearing source: https://manchesterhistory.org/News/Manchester%20Evening%20Hearld_1954-06-16.pdf#page=8
The Manchester Evening Herald’s June 4, 1954 front page reports that Judge Robert P. Anderson read the Connecticut Seven’s original Smith Act indictment from the bench. It identifies this defendant among the seven arrested the previous Saturday. This supplies the judge for the original indictment stage, not necessarily the later trial. The supplied file is labeled June 3 but its final facing page is explicitly dated June 4; the source date is taken from that original page. The report’s maximum five-year penalty is not an imposed sentence, and bond amounts do not establish a completed physical release. Existing later outcomes and custody limits remain unchanged.
Manchester Evening Herald, June 4, 1954 front page, supplied PDF page 10 (filename June 3).
