56 Convictions

In Pittsburgh's Federal District Court last week, five more U.S. Communist leaders were found guilty of conspiring to teach the violent overthrow of the U.S. Government. For 50-year-old Steve Nelson, former C.P. chieftain in western Pennsylvania, it was the second legal blow in a little more than a year. (Last July Nelson drew a 10-to-20-year sentence for violation of the Pennsylvania Sedition Act.) For the Communist Party U.S.A., it was the sixth courtroom disaster in as many years. Since 1948, when the U.S. Government set out to prosecute the party's known leadership, 56 U.S. Communists have been convicted under the 13-year-old Smith Act, which carries a maximum penalty of ten years' imprisonment and $10,000 fine.

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