Abraham J. Isserman
Born
Abraham J. Isserman

(1900-05-11)May 11, 1900
Belgium
DiedApril 22, 1988(1988-04-22) (aged 87)
New York City, US
NationalityAmerican
Other namesA.J. Isserman, Abraham Isserman, Abe Isserman
OccupationLabor lawyer
Known forDefended Gerhart Eisler (1947) and CPUSA leaders in Foley Square trial (1949)
Children1
RelativesMaurice Isserman (nephew)

Abraham J. Isserman (May 11, 1900 – April 22, 1988) was an American lawyer and activist who defended Gerhart Eisler in 1947 and CPUSA leaders in the Foley Square trial (1949): he was found in contempt of court by Judge Harold Medina, sentenced to four months in jail (1952), and disbarred.[1][2]

Background

Isserman was born on May 11, 1900, in Belgium.[2]

Career

Abraham J. Isserman and Morris Isserman were private attorneys at Isserman & Isserman, 24 Commerce Street, Newark, New Jersey.[3][4]

His clients included Edith Berkman, the New Jersey chapter of the Congress of Industrial Organizations,[2] and the union called the American Newspaper Guild.[5]

In the 1930s through 1941, he served as counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union.[2]

"Communist lawyer"

Isserman defended CPUSA members during the McCarthy Era.

Isserman was a member of the Communist Party and identified by the Federal government as one of several "communist lawyers."[6][7]

In 1939, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) reported that Isserman was a member of the national committee of the International Juridical Association, a communist-leaning group co-founded by Carol Weiss King and Shad Polier among others.[8][9][10]

In 1939, ACLU chief Roger Nash Baldwin asked Isserman to prepare a legal brief on whether witnesses could invoke the Fifth Amendment to help witnesses called before the Dies Committee (predecessor to HUAC).[11]

In April 1943, Walter Gellhorn, then New York Regional Attorney and Assistant General Counsel (later professor of law at Columbia University, also brother of photographer Martha Gellhorn) testified before HUAC as follows:

Mr. MATTHEWS: Do you know Abraham J. Isserman?
Mr. GELLHORN: Yes.
Mr. MATTHEWS: Do you have any personal views on whether Mr. Isserman is a Communist or a communist sympathizer?
Mr. GELLHORN: I imagine the latter. I have no information on the former. I know him to be a competent attorney. I have consulted with him on one or two labor matters.[12]

Gerhart Eisler trial

In 1947, with Carol Weiss King, Isserman defended Gerhart Eisler in a trial for fraudulent passport.[13] (The Federal government believed that the full "Eisler defense committee included: Max Bedacht, Dr. Felix Boenheim, Charles Collins, Eugene P. Connolly, Gustav Faber, Ida Guggenheimer, Isserman, King, Albert Maltz, and Walter Mueller.[14])

In the press, Eisler had been accused of being a mastermind for Soviet spies in the United States. On February 17, 1947, Life (magazine) magazine ran "The Career of Gerhart Eisler as a Comintern Agent" whose subtext read "Prototyp of a professional, Moscow-schooled revolutionary, he is now charged with conspiracy against the government of the U.S."[15]

During proceedings, Isserman stated, "I charge that this whole procedure is in bad faith and savors to me of something more."[16]

Eisler skipped bail and left the country by means of a Polish freighter.[2]

In 1949, the court removed Eisler v. United States, 338 U.S. 189, from the docket, pending return of the fugitive Eisler.[17]

Foley Square trial

Defendants Robert Thompson and Benjamin J. Davis during Foley Square trial, which Isserman helped defend

In 1949, Isserman served as one of five attorneys led by Harry Sacher as lead counsel to represent 11 members of the CPUSA's national board, accused of conspiring to teach and advocate the violent overthrow of the Government. The other three attorneys were Richard Gladstein, Louis F. McCabe, and George W. Crockett, Jr.[1][18] (Sometimes, Isserman is cited as chief counsel.[19]) Isserman was representing Gil Green and John Williamson.[2]

During appeal of the conviction, Isserman and colleagues accused trial judge Harold R. Medina of improperly favoring the prosecution. The defendants lost their appeal and went to prison.[1]

Contempt, Disbarment

Further, Isserman and Crockett among other defense attorneys was found in contempt of court. In 1952, Isserman went to jail for four months, despite support from groups like the National Lawyers Guild.[2][20]

In 1954, he was disbarred from law practice in the State of New Jersey.[1][21]

Following a 1953 order, he was also disbarred from the U.S. Supreme Court (In re Isserman, 348 U.S. 1 1954).[22]

Restoration

In 1961, New Jersey's Supreme Court voided the disbarment and had his license restored.[1]

Personal and death

On April 22, 1988, Isserman died in a nursing home in New York City after several strokes.[1]

Maurice Isserman is his nephew.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "A.J. Isserman, a Labor Lawyer, Dies at 88". New York Times. 25 April 1988. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Martelle, Scott (2011). The Fear Within: Spies, Commies, and American Democracy on Trial. Rutgers University Press. pp. xv (firm), 53 (birth, clients), 223 (contempt). ISBN 9780813549385. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  3. ↑ "National Labor Relations Act: Hearings Before the Special Committee to Investigate National Labor Relations Board". U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO). 1940. p. 5071. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  4. ↑ "Hearings, May 10-Aug. 1, 1940. II. Supplemental appendix to hearing of Aug. 1,.1940". U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO). 1940. p. 5071. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  5. ↑ "House Reports: 78th Congress, 2nd Session, Vol. 2". U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO). 1944. p. 51. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  6. ↑ "Communist Legal Subversion: The Role of the Communist Lawyer". U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO). 1959. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  7. ↑ "Communist Legal Subversion: The Role of the Communist Lawyer" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO). 1959. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 October 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  8. ↑ Investigation of Un-American Activities and Propaganda: Report of the Special Committee on Un-American Activities. U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO). 1939. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  9. ↑ Investigation of Un-American Propaganda Activities in the United States: Hearings Before a Special Committee on Un-American Activities. U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO). 1944. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  10. ↑ Publications Relating to Various Aspects of Communism. U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO). 1946. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  11. ↑ Walker, Samuel (1999). In Defense of Civil Liberties: A History of the ACLU. SIU Press. p. 121. ISBN 9780809322701. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  12. ↑ Hearings before a Special Committee on Un-American Activities. U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO). 1943. p. 3564. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  13. ↑ The Federal Reporter. U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO). 1949. p. 754. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  14. ↑ Investigation of un-American propaganda activities in the United States. (regarding Leon Josephson and Samuel Liptzen) Hearings. U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO). 1947. p. 77. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  15. ↑ Kay, Hugh (17 February 1947). "The Career of Gerhart Eisler as a Comintern Agent". Life. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  16. ↑ Lamphere, Robert; Schachtman, Tom (1995). The FBI-KGB War: A Special Agent's Story. Mercer University Press. p. 60. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  17. ↑ "Review of Recent Supreme Court Decisions". American Bar Association Journal. January 1950. p. 46. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  18. ↑ Christenson, Ron (1991). Political Trials in History. Transaction Publishers. p. 101. ISBN 9781412831253. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  19. ↑ Smith, Gerald L.K. (1947). "The Cross and the Flag". University of Michigan: 219. Retrieved 28 November 2016. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  20. ↑ "National Lawyers Guild Lawyer, Volumes 10-16". New York Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. 1952. Retrieved 28 November 2016. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  21. ↑ "Isserman Disbarred by New Jersey Court" (PDF). New York Times. 24 March 1954. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  22. ↑ "In re Disbarment of Isserman, 348 U.S. 1 (1954)". Justia US Supreme Court. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
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