ABSTRACT
Appointed Chief Justice in 1953, Warren inherited a tribunal only fitfully prepared to support freedom of expression when confronted by measures purporting to combat the communist menace. As Dennis, Douds, Adler, inter alia tell us, the judicial majority had abandoned the field of protected expression. Not that these Court decisions indicate an unqualified story of abdication and surrender. Though a few notable exceptions may be cited before 1963 when Frankfurter retired, they were infrequent. Blau, for one, did recognize that a witness could claim the privilege against self-incrimination when questioned about Communist Party membership. The JAFRC decision held that an organization could not be stigmatized as “Communist Front” without a hearing. There were other instances when early Warren Court decisions countered the sustained anti-radical fervor of the day, in opinions on state anti-subversion measures for one.
