''Wilkinson v. United States'', 365 U.S. 399 (1961), was a court case during the

McCarthy Era McCarthyism is the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner. The term origina ...

in which the petitioner, Frank Wilkinson, an administrator with the

Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) is a state-chartered public agency. Established in 1938, HACLA provides the largest stock of affordable housing in the city Los Angeles, California and is one of the nation's oldest public ...

, challenged his conviction under 2 U.S.C. § 192,. which makes it a misdemeanor to refuse to answer any question pertinent to the question under inquiry for any person summoned as a witness by Congress. The petitioner's conviction was sustained in a 5–4 ruling, upholding a prior ruling in '' Barenblatt v. United States''. The petitioner was indeed summoned to testify before a Subcommittee of the House of Representatives'

Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative United States Congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives, create ...

, which was investigating alleged Communist infiltration into basic industries and

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

propaganda activities. The petitioner refused to answer a question as to whether he was a member of the Communist Party, contending that the Subcommittee lacked legal authority to interrogate him and that its questioning violated his

First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

rights. He was convicted of a misdemeanor violation of 2 U.S.C. § 192. The Court also, on February 27, 1961, denied '' Braden v. United States'', a companion case appealing a similar 2 U.S.C. § 192 conviction. The underlying activities of the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

and government agencies later resulted in a case, ''Wilkinson v. FBI'', in which it was revealed that the FBI believed the witness that provided the assertion of Wilkinson's association with the Communist Party was "unreliable and emotionally unstable."Books.Google.com
/ref>

References

External links

* {{caselaw source , case = ''Wilkinson v. United States'', {{Ussc, 365, 399, 1961, el=no , cornell = , courtlistener =https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/106181/wilkinson-v-united-states/ , findlaw = https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/365/399.html , googlescholar = https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=1998845357020858365 , justia =https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/365/399/ , oyez =https://www.oyez.org/cases/1960/37
Looking at Wilkinson v. United States in light of Wilkinson v. Federal Bureau of Investigation
Frank Wilkinson, ''

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review Loyola Law School is the law school of Loyola Marymount University, a private Catholic university in Los Angeles, California. Loyola was established in 1920. Academics Degrees offered include the Juris Doctor (JD); Master of Science in Legal ...

'' Vol. 33:681 January 2000
§ 192. Refusal of witness to testify or produce papers
2 U.S.C. § 192 Anti-communism in the United States United States Supreme Court cases United States federal criminal case law United States Free Speech Clause case law 1961 in United States case law United States Supreme Court cases of the Warren Court