Braden v. United States
*Braden v. United States, 365 U.S. 431, was decided on this date in 1961. In this case, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the petitioner, Carl Braden, 's conviction, based on his refusal to answer questions posed by the House of Representatives, did not violate his First Amendment rights and was therefore constitutional.
The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was a standing committee within the United States House of Representatives that became more narrowly focused on Communist activities. By 1975, it would be disbanded. Despite the controversy, the HUAC was still very active in 1961, when it was investigating allegations of "Communist infiltration into basic industries in the South and Communist Party propaganda activities in the American South." Among the witnesses called in this investigation was Carl Braden.
However, when the committee questioned Braden, he refused to answer, citing his assertion that the questions were not relevant to the committee and that they also violated his First Amendment rights. He was then convicted under 2 U.S.C. § 192, which makes it a misdemeanor offense to refuse to answer "pertinent" questions posed by the committee.
Opinion of the Court
Braden's conviction was sustained, based on his refusal to answer questions posed to him by the HUAC, and did not violate his First Amendment rights; it was, therefore, constitutional.
