Biography
W. G. Binkley was a Communist organizer in Danville, Virginia. The Daily Worker of December 30, 1931, page 1, reports his conviction for trying to overthrow the government of Virginia, a $150 fine and a two-month prison sentence. It says he had been arrested the preceding week for possessing Communist literature; a vagrancy charge was later dropped. Binkley appealed and was out on bail when the report was filed. The newspaper describes a crowded courtroom and his defense of Communism and unemployed workers. The initials are not expanded, and the report does not establish an exact arrest or sentencing day, actual service of the two-month sentence, or the appeal outcome.
The December 24, 1931 Charlotte telegram published December 25 reports Communist section organizer Binkley arrested in Danville on vagrancy and possession-of-Communist-literature accusations during the National Textile Workers Union campaign. This is earlier reporting on the existing late-December prosecution, whose later account records the vagrancy charge dropped and appeal bail. No exact arrest, physical admission or completed two-month service is inferred. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1931/v08-n309-NY-dec-25-1931-DW-LOC.pdf#page=1
The December 28 Danville dispatch published December 29 reports Binkley arrested the preceding week, with vagrancy dismissed and a treason accusation substituted after Communist literature was used against him. A decision on December 29 was still prospective. The December 31 issue’s ILD release demand explicitly calls him imprisoned; charge substitution is not an acquittal or release. Neither report supplies a precise intake day or a completed two-month term. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1931/v08-n312-NY-dec-29-1931-DW-LOC.pdf#page=1
