Biography
William “Bill” Baird was a birth-control and abortion-law reform advocate who directed the Parents’ Aid Society in Boston and Hempstead, New York. A February 25, 1970 contemporary report states that he began a three-month sentence in a Boston jail on the preceding Saturday, February 21, after conviction connected to displaying contraceptive foam at a Boston University lecture. The report and identified portrait caption document his actual imprisonment, not merely a future sentence. His exact release date and total completed jail time remain unverified.
The October 8, 1971 Militant reports dismissal on September 21 of Suffolk County, New York charges against Bill Baird arising from a birth-control and abortion lecture at a women's liberation meeting. Nancy Manfredonia, attending with her fourteen-month-old daughter, had also been arrested. The report distinguishes an initial morals charge from three subsequent counts against Baird, all dismissed. This does not date a jail admission or establish multi-day custody for that separate incident. Source: https://www.themilitant.com/1971/3536/MIL3536.pdf#page=8
Contemporary source and limits
The article states he began serving the three-month Boston sentence on Saturday, February21. It calls the conviction impairing the morals of minors, while its caption uses the historical description crimes against chastity. No exact statutory charge is inferred from that newspaper shorthand. The three-month imposed term is not converted into time actually served and no release is calculated. The political relevance is his prosecution for disseminating contraceptive information. Earlier lectures, Senate candidacy and organizing activity are not additional jail episodes. Exact birth and death dates, other arrests, current custody status and final discharge remain unverified.
The July 7, 1970 Associated Press report says Baird actually spent thirty-six days in Suffolk County Jail before being freed on bail. It separately reports reversal of his contraceptive-law conviction on July 6. The reversal day is not assigned as the physical release date.
