McCarran Internal Security Act: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|1950 statute authorizingagainst UScommunist concentrationsubversive campsactivities}}

The Act required [[Communist registration|Communist organizations]] to register with the [[United States Attorney General]] and established the [[Subversive Activities Control Board]] to investigate persons suspected of engaging in subversive activities or otherwise promoting the establishment of a "totalitarian dictatorship", either fascist or communist. Members of these groups could not become citizens and in some cases were preventedbarred from entering or leaving the country. Immigrants found in violation of the act within five years of being naturalized could have their citizenship revoked.

United States Attorney General [[J. Howard McGrath]] asked that the Communist PartyCPUSA provide a list of all its members in the United States, as well as 'reveal its financial details'.'<ref>{{Cite news|title=Russia Dominates US Reds, McGrath Formally Charges|last=Wood|first=Lewis|date=1950|work=The New York Times|id={{ProQuest|111584130}}}}</ref> Furthermore, members of 'Communist-Action Organizations' including those of the [[Communist Party of the United States of America]] were required (prior to a 1965 Supreme Court case mentioned below)<ref>''[[Albertson v. Subversive Activities Control Board]]''</ref> to register with the U.S. Attorney General their name and address and be subject to the statutes applicable to such registrants (e.g. being barred from federal employment, among others).<ref>Title I, Section 5-7</ref> In addition, once registered, members were liable for prosecution solely based on membership under the [[Smith Act]] due to the expressed and alleged intent of the organization.<ref>''[[Smith Act trials of Communist Party leaders]]''</ref><ref>''[[Scales v. United States]]''</ref>

The Act made picketing a federalFederal courthouse a felony<ref>''New York Times'': [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1950/09/25/86458532.pdf "M'Grath to Press New Curbs on Reds," September 25, 1950], accessed June 25, 2012</ref> if intended to obstruct the court system or influence jurors or other trial participants.<ref>Title I, Section 31</ref>

Part of the Act was repealed by the [[Non-Detention Act]] of 1971 after facing public opposition, notably from Japanese Americans. President [[Richard Nixon]], while signing the repeal bill, referred to the internment of Japanese -Americans during World War II for historical context as to why the bill needed to be repealed.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Izumi|first=Masumi|date=May 2005|title=Prohibiting "American Concentration Camps"|journal=Pacific Historical Review|volume= 74|issue=2|pages=166|jstor=10.1525/phr.2005.74.2.165|doi=10.1525/phr.2005.74.2.165}}</ref>