Junius Scales
Encyclopedia
Junius Scales was an American leader of the Communist Party of the United States of America notable for his arrest and trials under the Smith Act
in the 1950s. He was arrested in Memphis, Tennessee
in 1954 after going underground, he was tried under the Smith Act and convicted twice, undergoing a seven-year appeal process which reached the Supreme Court twice. He began serving a six-year sentence at Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary
in 1961. In 1962 his sentence was commuted by President Kennedy
and he was set free.
in 1920. In 1935 he began hanging around 'The Intimate Bookshop' in Chapel Hill
(run by Milton A. Abernethy and known to locals simply as Ab's), a barnlike offcampus watering hole for local intellectuals and bohemians which had a clandestine Communist Party printing press in a back room. He was soon hired as a clerk in the store, and spent more time reading the books than working. He started attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
the following year, at the age of 16, and three years later in 1939 he secretly joined the Communist Party, and soon afterward married his first wife, Sylvia and quit school to became a union organizer in the textile mills. The attack on Pearl Harbor
brought a sudden end to his union organizing efforts, and he volunteered for military service.
After serving in the U.S. Army from 1942 to 1946, he returned to Chapel Hill. While completing work on his bachelor's degree and starting work on his master's, he became the local party organizer, supervising five local Communist clubs and hosting weekly salons at his home open to both party and non-party members. In 1948 he became state chairman of the party. At this time he openly and publicly identified himself as the Communist Party leader in North Carolina, leading to newspaper stories which embarrassed his wealthy white family and led to his forced resignation from his post on the state committee of the Southern Conference on Human Welfare. The strain on his marriage led to his divorce and remarriage, to his second wife Gladys, a New Yorker, in 1949.
Scales went semi-underground ("unavailable", in party parlance, but not in the "deep freeze") in 1951, traveling from city to city under a variety of assumed names as a circuit riding district organizer for the CP in North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and northern Mississippi, making unannounced visits to small party clubs meeting in private homes where he would collect dues, reregister members, settle disputes and explain the latest shifts in the party line. His wife moved back to New York where she lived under an alias in the Bronx with his infant daughter; with Junius making carefully guarded visits to his family only at infrequent intervals. The FBI periodically caught up to him and trailed him during these years but did not arrest him until 1954. He was not charged with any overt acts but was indicted under the provisions of the Smith Act as a member of an organization which advocated violence. He became the only party member to serve in prison on these charges, similar charges against Claude Lightfoot
having been dropped on appeal. While free on bail while appealing his conviction Scales remained as state chairman of the CP until 1956, and after a brief association with the dissident John Gates
faction he quit the Communist Party in 1957, following Nikita Khrushchev
's revelations of Stalin-era atrocities.
and North Carolina civil rights attorney McNeill Smith
. Scales lost his final appeal in the United States Supreme Court on a 5-4 vote, with Felix Frankfurter
casting the deciding vote. He was to serve 15 months of a six-year sentence before his sentence was commuted at Christmas 1962, after a vigorous campaign for clemency led by James Wechsler
of the New York Post
and Norman Thomas
. Martin Luther King, Reinhold Neibuhr and W. H. Auden
were among the notable signers to a petition for his release.
After being released from prison by President John F. Kennedy in 1962, he settled in New York and was hired as a proofreader at The New York Times
, having successfully fought off an attempt to expel him from the typographers union as a result of his conviction in 1961.
He died in Pine Bush, New York
in 2002.
Smith Act
The Alien Registration Act or Smith Act of 1940 is a United States federal statute that set criminal penalties for advocating the overthrow of the U.S...
in the 1950s. He was arrested in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
in 1954 after going underground, he was tried under the Smith Act and convicted twice, undergoing a seven-year appeal process which reached the Supreme Court twice. He began serving a six-year sentence at Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary
Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary
The United States Penitentiary in Lewisburg is a male inmate high security federal penitentiary and satellite minimum security prison camp housing some 1,000 and 500 respectively, just outside Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. The Lewisburg Penitentiary was opened in 1932...
in 1961. In 1962 his sentence was commuted by President Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
and he was set free.
Early life and career
Junius Irving Scales was born into a socially prominent family in Greensboro, North CarolinaGreensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third-largest city by population in North Carolina and the largest city in Guilford County and the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. According to the 2010 U.S...
in 1920. In 1935 he began hanging around 'The Intimate Bookshop' in Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, United States and the home of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UNC Health Care...
(run by Milton A. Abernethy and known to locals simply as Ab's), a barnlike offcampus watering hole for local intellectuals and bohemians which had a clandestine Communist Party printing press in a back room. He was soon hired as a clerk in the store, and spent more time reading the books than working. He started attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
the following year, at the age of 16, and three years later in 1939 he secretly joined the Communist Party, and soon afterward married his first wife, Sylvia and quit school to became a union organizer in the textile mills. The attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
brought a sudden end to his union organizing efforts, and he volunteered for military service.
After serving in the U.S. Army from 1942 to 1946, he returned to Chapel Hill. While completing work on his bachelor's degree and starting work on his master's, he became the local party organizer, supervising five local Communist clubs and hosting weekly salons at his home open to both party and non-party members. In 1948 he became state chairman of the party. At this time he openly and publicly identified himself as the Communist Party leader in North Carolina, leading to newspaper stories which embarrassed his wealthy white family and led to his forced resignation from his post on the state committee of the Southern Conference on Human Welfare. The strain on his marriage led to his divorce and remarriage, to his second wife Gladys, a New Yorker, in 1949.
Scales went semi-underground ("unavailable", in party parlance, but not in the "deep freeze") in 1951, traveling from city to city under a variety of assumed names as a circuit riding district organizer for the CP in North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and northern Mississippi, making unannounced visits to small party clubs meeting in private homes where he would collect dues, reregister members, settle disputes and explain the latest shifts in the party line. His wife moved back to New York where she lived under an alias in the Bronx with his infant daughter; with Junius making carefully guarded visits to his family only at infrequent intervals. The FBI periodically caught up to him and trailed him during these years but did not arrest him until 1954. He was not charged with any overt acts but was indicted under the provisions of the Smith Act as a member of an organization which advocated violence. He became the only party member to serve in prison on these charges, similar charges against Claude Lightfoot
Claude Lightfoot
Claude M. Lightfoot was an African-American activist, politician, and author. In 1955, during the McCarthy era, he was indicted based on the Smith Act and put on trial...
having been dropped on appeal. While free on bail while appealing his conviction Scales remained as state chairman of the CP until 1956, and after a brief association with the dissident John Gates
John Gates
John "Johnny" Gates, born Solomon Regenstreif was a prominent American Communist journalist, best remembered as one of the individuals spearheading a failed attempt at liberalization of the Communist Party USA in 1957.-Early years:...
faction he quit the Communist Party in 1957, following Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
's revelations of Stalin-era atrocities.
Arrest and Conviction
His arrest by the FBI on a street corner in Memphis 1954 was the beginning of a seven-year legal ordeal, in which he was ably represented in court by prominent lawyer Telford TaylorTelford Taylor
Telford Taylor was an American lawyer best known for his role in the Counsel for the Prosecution at the Nuremberg Trials after World War II, his opposition to Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s, and his outspoken criticism of U.S...
and North Carolina civil rights attorney McNeill Smith
McNeill Smith
John McNeill Smith Jr. was a North Carolina politician and attorney involved in civil rights advocacy.Smith was a native of Robeson County, North Carolina and served in the United States Navy during World War II....
. Scales lost his final appeal in the United States Supreme Court on a 5-4 vote, with Felix Frankfurter
Felix Frankfurter
Felix Frankfurter was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.-Early life:Frankfurter was born into a Jewish family on November 15, 1882, in Vienna, Austria, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Europe. He was the third of six children of Leopold and Emma Frankfurter...
casting the deciding vote. He was to serve 15 months of a six-year sentence before his sentence was commuted at Christmas 1962, after a vigorous campaign for clemency led by James Wechsler
James Wechsler
James A. Wechsler was an American journalist.He was a columnist and Washington bureau editor of The New York Post, and a prominent voice of American liberalism for 40 years...
of the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
and Norman Thomas
Norman Thomas
Norman Mattoon Thomas was a leading American socialist, pacifist, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America.-Early years:...
. Martin Luther King, Reinhold Neibuhr and W. H. Auden
W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden , who published as W. H. Auden, was an Anglo-American poet,The first definition of "Anglo-American" in the OED is: "Of, belonging to, or involving both England and America." See also the definition "English in origin or birth, American by settlement or citizenship" in See also...
were among the notable signers to a petition for his release.
After being released from prison by President John F. Kennedy in 1962, he settled in New York and was hired as a proofreader at The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, having successfully fought off an attempt to expel him from the typographers union as a result of his conviction in 1961.
He died in Pine Bush, New York
Pine Bush, New York
Pine Bush is a hamlet located in the Town of Crawford, and Shawangunk, New York, in Orange/Ulster Counties, New York, U.S., roughly coterminous with the 12566 ZIP code and 744 telephone exchange in the 845 area code Pine Bush is a hamlet (and census-designated place) located in the Town of...
in 2002.