Biography
Sam Jacobs was a teacher from Mobridge, South Dakota. Sam Jacobs was sentenced to two and a half years in prison. He served in Leavenworth Penitentiary from March 28, 1918, to January 18, 1919, and in St. Elizabeth's Hospital for the Insane from January 18, 1919, to the expiration of his sentence on May 20, 1920. At Leavenworth Penitentiary Jacobs was placed into a straightjacket for " tearing up his bed clothes, " " attempting to destroy" property and "yelling at the top of his lungs. " St. Elizabeth's Hospital certified Jacobs' insanity and diagnosed his condition as "dementia praecox," adding that Jacobs was " hebephrenic " with "impulsive outbreaks of violence" and " hallucinations. " The report from St. Elizabeth's notes that Jacobs had no history of insanity before he went to prison.
The presidential-clemency table in the 1921 Senate amnesty hearings records a sentence imposed May 15, 1918: Two years and six months at Leavenworth; transferred to St. Elizabeths Hospital by Congressional authority. Commuted April 22, 1919 to expire immediately upon discharge from St. Elizabeths Hospital; this is a conditional future discharge, not a recorded physical release. A pardon, commutation, nominal expiration or parole eligibility is not itself evidence of the day of physical release; the imposed or reduced term is not a measured time served.
Amnesty and Pardon for Political Prisoners, 1921 Senate hearings, printed page 183.
The March1922 official report lists Sam Jacobs in List1 of convicted prisoners or parolees. The government entry reports a term expiration or parole status in the named roster. Imposed terms, projected term-expiration dates, parole eligibility and intervals on bond are different measures; none is entered as a complete actual custody total. This attributed government entry is retained alongside the independently established individual chronology. [PDF11]
Government Prosecutions under the Espionage Act, Senate Document159 (March1922), PDF page 11.
