The Prosecution of U.S. Communists

With the fatality of opportunism, the government is pursuing its prosecution of the Communist Party under the McCarran Act of 1950. After 12 years of harassment, it is now within striking distance and may again succeed — some triumph! —in putting Gus Hall and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn into jail.

The McCarran Act requires that “Communist-action organizations” make public the names of their officers and members, as well as forfeit a variety of privileges. Failure to comply w...