Biography
Terry Pettus was editor of the People’s World and one of the Seattle Smith Act defendants arrested on September 17, 1952. A jury convicted him in October 1953 and the court imposed five years, but the conviction was later vacated after the Supreme Court’s Yates decision. During trial, Pettus was jailed from August 18 through October 9, 1953 for refusing to answer questions before the grand jury, serving fifty-two days. A later three-year contempt sentence was reversed before it was served.
National Guardian, October 19, 1953, national page 16: The paper names Paul L. Bowen, John S. Daschbach, Henry P. Huff, Barbara Hartle and Terry Pettus as convicted by a Seattle federal jury October 9 of conspiracy to teach and advocate violent overthrow. It says the trial began April 15 with seven defendants, that Karley Larsen separated his defense and was acquitted, and that William J. Pennock died August 2. It does not supply an individualized sentence or a completed term of imprisonment. This contemporary verdict report does not supersede later appellate outcomes. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/national-guardian/1953-10-19-5-52-nat-guardian.pdf
