Ruth Leider

Released

Gender:Female

Race:White

Era:1940s

State:New York

Time Imprisoned:

3 Months

Support

Anti-Fascism Civil Liberties Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee

Biography

Ruth Leider was an executive-board member of the Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee (JAFRC), which aided refugees of Franco's Spain. When the board refused to surrender the committee's records to the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1946 she was cited for contempt of Congress with the rest of the board, convicted in June 1947, and — after the Supreme Court declined to hear the case — began a three-month federal sentence on June 7, 1950, alongside a $500 fine.

Case

Charges: Contempt of Congress — as an executive-board member of the Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee, refused to surrender the organization records subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee

Incarcerated: Jun 7, 1950

Released: September 1950

Sentence: Three months and a $500 fine Entered federal custody June 7, 1950 and released in early September 1950. The September 1, 1950 Daily Worker reported the remaining eight JAFRC prisoners due out the following week, which places the release at approximately September 3-9, 1950; no individual release day has been found, so the release is recorded at month precision and the counter reports the documented three months rather than a day-level span. The previously recorded September 7, 1950 release was the sentence length added to the surrender date, not a reported release.

Convicted: Yes

Ruth Leider

Biography

Case

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