Chicago Seven
Encyclopedia
Abbie Hoffman
Abbot Howard "Abbie" Hoffman was a political and social activist who co-founded the Youth International Party ....
, Jerry Rubin
Jerry Rubin
Jerry Rubin was an American social activist during the 1960s and 1970s. During the 1980s, he became a successful businessman.-Early life:...
, David Dellinger
David Dellinger
David T. Dellinger , was an influential American radical, a pacifist and activist for nonviolent social change.-Chicago Seven:...
, Tom Hayden
Tom Hayden
Thomas Emmet "Tom" Hayden is an American social and political activist and politician, known for his involvement in the animal rights, and the anti-war and civil rights movements of the 1960s. He is the former husband of actress Jane Fonda and the father of actor Troy Garity.-Life and...
, Rennie Davis
Rennie Davis
Rennard Cordon “Rennie” Davis is a former, prominent American anti-Vietnam War protest leader of the 1960s. He was one of the Chicago Seven....
, John Froines
John Froines
John R. Froines is a chemist and anti-war activist.He is noted as a member of the Chicago Seven, a group charged with involvement with the riots at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. Froines, who holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Yale, was charged with interstate travel for purposes of...
, and Lee Weiner
Lee Weiner
Lee Weiner , a member of the Chicago Seven, was charged with conspiracy and making incendiary devices for his part in the demonstrations that surrounded the 1968 Democratic National Convention.J...
—charged with conspiracy, inciting to riot
Riot
A riot is a form of civil disorder characterized often by what is thought of as disorganized groups lashing out in a sudden and intense rash of violence against authority, property or people. While individuals may attempt to lead or control a riot, riots are thought to be typically chaotic and...
, and other charges related to protests that took place in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
on the occasion of the 1968 Democratic National Convention
1968 Democratic National Convention
The 1968 Democratic National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party was held at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, from August 26 to August 29, 1968. Because Democratic President Lyndon Johnson had announced he would not seek a second term, the purpose of the convention was to...
. Bobby Seale
Bobby Seale
Robert George "Bobby" Seale , is an activist. He is known for co-founding the Black Panther Party with Huey Newton.-Early life:...
, the eighth man charged, had his trial severed during the proceedings, lowering the number from eight to seven.
Background
The 1968 Democratic National Convention1968 Democratic National Convention
The 1968 Democratic National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party was held at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, from August 26 to August 29, 1968. Because Democratic President Lyndon Johnson had announced he would not seek a second term, the purpose of the convention was to...
was held in Chicago in late August—convened to select the party's candidates for the November 1968 Presidential election
United States presidential election, 1968
The United States presidential election of 1968 was the 46th quadrennial United States presidential election. Coming four years after Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson won in a historic landslide, it saw Johnson forced out of the race and Republican Richard Nixon elected...
. Prior to and during the convention—which took place at the International Amphitheatre
International Amphitheatre
The International Amphitheatre was an indoor arena, located in Chicago, Illinois, between 1934 and 1999. It was located on the west side of Halsted Street, at 42nd Street, on the city's south side, adjacent to the Union Stock Yards....
—rallies, demonstrations, marches, and attempted marches took place on the streets and in the lakefront parks, about five miles away from the convention site. These activities were primarily in protest of President Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
's policies for the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, policies which were vigorously contested during the presidential primary campaign and inside the convention.
Anti-war
Anti-war
An anti-war movement is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conflicts. Many...
groups had petitioned the city of Chicago for permits to march the five miles from the central business district (the Loop
Chicago Loop
The Loop or Chicago Loop is one of 77 officially designated Chicago community areas located in the City of Chicago, Illinois. It is the historic commercial center of downtown Chicago...
) to within sight of the convention site, to hold a number of rallies in the lakefront parks and also near the convention, and to camp in Lincoln Park
Lincoln Park
Lincoln Park is an urban park in Chicago, which gave its name to the Lincoln Park, Chicago community area.Lincoln Park may also refer to:-Urban parks:*Lincoln Park , California*Lincoln Park, San Francisco, California...
. The city denied all permits, except for one afternoon rally at the old bandshell at the south end of Grant Park
Grant Park (Chicago)
Grant Park, with between the downtown Chicago Loop and Lake Michigan, offers many different attractions in its large open space. The park is generally flat. It is also crossed by large boulevards and even a bed of sunken railroad tracks...
. The city also enforced an 11:00 PM curfew in Lincoln Park. Confrontations with protesters ensued as the police enforced the curfew, stopped attempts to march to the International Amphitheatre, and cleared crowds from the streets.
The Grant Park rally on Wednesday, August 28, 1968, was attended by about 15,000 protesters, while other actions involved hundreds or thousands. After the large rally, a few thousand protesters attempted to march to the International Amphitheatre, but were stopped in front of the Conrad Hilton Hotel, where the presidential candidates and their campaigns were headquartered (as well as a young Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Henry Rumsfeld is an American politician and businessman. Rumsfeld served as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and as the 21st Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He is both the youngest and the oldest person to...
). Police moves to push the protesters out of the street were accompanied by tear gas, verbal and physical confrontation, frequent use of police batons to beat people, and scores of arrests. The television networks broadcast footage of these clashes, cutting away from the nominating speeches for the presidential candidates.
Over the course of five days and nights, the police made arrests, in addition to using tear gas, Mace, and batons on the marchers. Hundreds of protesters and police officers were injured by police batons and rocks. Dozens of journalists covering the actions were also clubbed by police or had cameras smashed and film confiscated. In the aftermath of what was later characterized as a "police riot
Police riot
A police riot is a confrontation between police and civilians. The term can also describe a riot by civilians caused or instigated by police...
" by the U.S. National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence, a federal grand jury
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
indicted eight demonstrators and eight police officers.
Grand Jury and indictment
Following the convention on September 9, 1968 a Federal grand juryGrand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
was empaneled to consider criminal charges. The grand jury focused on the possible grounds for charges in four areas:
- A conspiracy by protesters to cross state lines to incite a riot
- Violations by police of the civil rights of demonstrators by use of excessive force
- TV network violations of the Federal Communications Act
- TV network violations of federal wiretap laws.
Over the course of more than six months the grand jury met 30 times and heard some 200 witnesses. However, President Lyndon Johnson's Attorney General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
, Ramsey Clark
Ramsey Clark
William Ramsey Clark is an American lawyer, activist and former public official. He worked for the U.S. Department of Justice, which included service as United States Attorney General from 1967 to 1969, under President Lyndon B. Johnson...
, discouraged an indictment, believing that the violence during the convention was primarily caused by actions of the Chicago police. The grand jury returned indictments only after President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
took office and John Mitchell
John N. Mitchell
John Newton Mitchell was the Attorney General of the United States from 1969 to 1972 under President Richard Nixon...
assumed the office of Attorney General. On March 20, 1969, eight protesters were charged with various crimes and eight police officers were charged with civil rights violations.
Charges
The eight defendants were charged under the anti-riot provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1968Civil Rights Act of 1968
On April 11, 1968 U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968, also known as the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968. Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 is commonly known as the Fair Housing Act, or as CRA '68, and was meant as a follow-up to the Civil Rights Act of 1964...
which made it a federal crime to cross state lines with the intent to incite a riot. The Chicago 8 indictment alleged crimes of three kinds:
- That all eight defendants conspired (together with another sixteen unindicted co-conspirators) to cross state lines to incite a riot, to teach the making of an incendiary device, and to commit acts to impede law enforcement officers in their lawful duties.
- That David Dellinger, Rennie Davis, Tom Hayden, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and Bobby Seale individually crossed state lines to incite a riot.
- That John Froines and Lee Weiner instructed other persons in the construction and use of an incendiary device.
The sixteen unindicted co-conspirators were: Wolfe B. Lowenthal, Stewart E. Albert
Stew Albert
Stewart Edward "Stew" Albert was an early member of the Yippies, an anti-Vietnam War political activist, and an important figure in the New Left movement of the 1960s....
, Sidney M. Peck, Kathy Boudin
Kathy Boudin
Kathy Boudin is a former American radical who was convicted in 1984 of felony murder for her participation in an armed robbery that resulted in the killing of three people. She later became a public health expert while in prison...
, Corina F. Fales, Benjamin Radford, Thomas W. Neumann, Craig Shimabukuro, Bo Taylor, David A. Baker, Richard Bosciano, Terry Gross, Donna Gripe, Benjamin Ortiz, Joseph Toornabene, and Richard Palmer. Additionally, Rick Pecora was implicated for inciting incidents but never charged.
Trial
The original eight protester/defendants, indicted by the grand jury on March 20, 1969, were Abbie HoffmanAbbie Hoffman
Abbot Howard "Abbie" Hoffman was a political and social activist who co-founded the Youth International Party ....
, Jerry Rubin
Jerry Rubin
Jerry Rubin was an American social activist during the 1960s and 1970s. During the 1980s, he became a successful businessman.-Early life:...
, David Dellinger
David Dellinger
David T. Dellinger , was an influential American radical, a pacifist and activist for nonviolent social change.-Chicago Seven:...
, Tom Hayden
Tom Hayden
Thomas Emmet "Tom" Hayden is an American social and political activist and politician, known for his involvement in the animal rights, and the anti-war and civil rights movements of the 1960s. He is the former husband of actress Jane Fonda and the father of actor Troy Garity.-Life and...
, Rennie Davis
Rennie Davis
Rennard Cordon “Rennie” Davis is a former, prominent American anti-Vietnam War protest leader of the 1960s. He was one of the Chicago Seven....
, John Froines
John Froines
John R. Froines is a chemist and anti-war activist.He is noted as a member of the Chicago Seven, a group charged with involvement with the riots at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. Froines, who holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Yale, was charged with interstate travel for purposes of...
, Lee Weiner
Lee Weiner
Lee Weiner , a member of the Chicago Seven, was charged with conspiracy and making incendiary devices for his part in the demonstrations that surrounded the 1968 Democratic National Convention.J...
, and Bobby Seale
Bobby Seale
Robert George "Bobby" Seale , is an activist. He is known for co-founding the Black Panther Party with Huey Newton.-Early life:...
. The defense attorneys were William Kunstler
William Kunstler
William Moses Kunstler was an American self-described "radical lawyer" and civil rights activist, known for his controversial clients...
and Leonard Weinglass
Leonard Weinglass
Leonard Irving Weinglass was a U.S. criminal defense lawyer and constitutional law advocate. Weinglass graduated from Yale Law School in 1958, then served as a Captain, Judge Advocate, United States Air Force from 1959 to 1961. He was admitted to the bar in the states of New Jersey, New York,...
of the Center for Constitutional Rights
Center for Constitutional Rights
Al Odah v. United States:Al Odah is the latest in a series of habeas corpus petitions on behalf of people imprisoned at the Guantanamo Bay detention center. The case challenges the Military Commissions system’s suitability as a habeas corpus substitute and the legality, in general, of detention at...
. The judge was Julius Hoffman
Julius Hoffman
Julius J. Hoffman was a Chicago, Illinois, attorney and judge and former law partner of Richard J. Daley who achieved notoriety for his role in the Chicago Seven trial.-Early life:...
. The prosecutors were Richard Schultz
Richard Schultz
Richard Schultz was one of the prosecutors in the Chicago Seven trial that took place in the late 1960s.Schultz, then an assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, attended DePaul University College of Law...
and Tom Foran
Tom Foran
Thomas Aquinas Foran, deceased August 6, 2000, was a US Attorney best known as the pugnacious chief prosecutor in the Chicago Seven conspiracy trial in which seven defendants, including Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman, and Tom Hayden, were charged with inciting riots at the 1968 Democratic National...
. The trial began on September 24, 1969, and on October 9 the United States National Guard
United States National Guard
The National Guard of the United States is a reserve military force composed of state National Guard militia members or units under federally recognized active or inactive armed force service for the United States. Militia members are citizen soldiers, meaning they work part time for the National...
was called in for crowd control as demonstrations grew outside the courtroom.
Early in the course of the trial, Black Panther Party
Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party wasan African-American revolutionary leftist organization. It was active in the United States from 1966 until 1982....
activist Bobby Seale
Bobby Seale
Robert George "Bobby" Seale , is an activist. He is known for co-founding the Black Panther Party with Huey Newton.-Early life:...
hurled bitter attacks at Judge Hoffman in court, calling him a "fascist
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
dog," a "honky," a "pig," and a "racist
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
," among other things. Seale had wanted the trial postponed so that his own attorney, Charles Garry
Charles R. Garry
Charles R. Garry was an American civil rights attorney who represented a number of high-profile clients in political cases during the 1960s and 1970s, including representing the Peoples Temple in Jonestown during the 1978 tragedy that occurred at that location.-Early life:Born in Bridgewater,...
, could represent him (as Garry was about to undergo gallbladder
Gallbladder
In vertebrates the gallbladder is a small organ that aids mainly in fat digestion and concentrates bile produced by the liver. In humans the loss of the gallbladder is usually easily tolerated....
surgery); the judge denied the postponement, and refused to allow Seale to represent himself, leading to Seale's verbal onslaught. When Seale refused to be silenced, the judge ordered Seale bound and gagged in the courtroom, citing a precedent from the case of Illinois v. Allen. (This was alluded to in Graham Nash's
Graham Nash
Graham William Nash, OBE is an English singer-songwriter known for his light tenor vocals and for his songwriting contributions with the British pop group The Hollies, and with the folk-rock band Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Nash is a photography collector and a published photographer...
song, "Chicago", which opened with: "So your brother's bound and gagged, and they've chained him to a chair"). Ultimately, Hoffman severed Seale from the case, sentencing him to four years in prison for contempt of court
Contempt of court
Contempt of court is a court order which, in the context of a court trial or hearing, declares a person or organization to have disobeyed or been disrespectful of the court's authority...
, one of the longest sentences ever handed down for that offense in the US up to that time.
The Chicago Eight then became the Chicago Seven, where the defendants, particularly Yippies
Youth International Party
The Youth International Party, whose members were commonly called Yippies, was a radically youth-oriented and countercultural revolutionary offshoot of the free speech and anti-war movements of the 1960s. It was founded on Dec. 31, 1967...
Hoffman and Rubin, mocked courtroom decorum as the widely publicized trial itself became a focal point for a growing legion of protesters. One day, defendants Hoffman and Rubin appeared in court dressed in judicial robes. When the judge ordered them to remove the robes, they complied, to reveal that they were wearing Chicago police uniforms underneath. Hoffman blew kisses at the jury. Judge Hoffman became the favorite courtroom target of the defendants, who frequently would insult the judge to his face. Abbie Hoffman (no relation) told Judge Hoffman "you are a 'shande fur de Goyim' [disgrace in front of the gentile
Gentile
The term Gentile refers to non-Israelite peoples or nations in English translations of the Bible....
s]. You would have served Hitler better." He later added that "your idea of justice is the only obscenity in the room." Both Davis and Rubin told the Judge "this court is bullshit."
The trial extended for months, with many celebrated figures from the American left
American Left
The American Left consists of individuals and groups, including socialists, communists and anarchists, that have sought fundamental change in the economic, political and cultural institutions of the United States. Although left-wing ideologies came to the United States in the 19th century, there...
and counterculture called to testify, including folk singers Phil Ochs
Phil Ochs
Philip David Ochs was an American protest singer and songwriter who was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, earnest humanism, political activism, insightful and alliterative lyrics, and haunting voice...
, Judy Collins
Judy Collins
Judith Marjorie "Judy" Collins is an American singer and songwriter, known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records ; and for her social activism. She is an alumna of the University of Colorado.-Musical career:Collins was born and raised in Seattle, Washington...
and Arlo Guthrie
Arlo Guthrie
Arlo Davy Guthrie is an American folk singer. Like his father, Woody Guthrie, Arlo often sings songs of protest against social injustice...
, writer Norman Mailer
Norman Mailer
Norman Kingsley Mailer was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, and film director.Along with Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Hunter S...
, LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
advocate Timothy Leary
Timothy Leary
Timothy Francis Leary was an American psychologist and writer, known for his advocacy of psychedelic drugs. During a time when drugs like LSD and psilocybin were legal, Leary conducted experiments at Harvard University under the Harvard Psilocybin Project, resulting in the Concord Prison...
and Reverend Jesse Jackson
Jesse Jackson
Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. is an African-American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as shadow senator for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997. He was the founder of both entities that merged to...
. Ochs, who was involved in planning for the demonstrations, told the court how he had acquired a pig to nominate as a presidential candidate. Rubin attempted to deliver the acceptance speech for the pig, named Pigasus, but before he could finish, police arrested him and Ochs under a livestock ordinance, a charge later changed to disorderly conduct.
Verdict
On February 18, 1970, all seven defendants were found not guilty of conspiracy. Two (Froines and Weiner) were acquitted completely, while the remaining five were convicted of crossing state lines with the intent to incite a riot, a crime instituted by the anti-riot provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1968Civil Rights Act of 1968
On April 11, 1968 U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968, also known as the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968. Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 is commonly known as the Fair Housing Act, or as CRA '68, and was meant as a follow-up to the Civil Rights Act of 1964...
. On February 20, they were each fined $5,000 and sentenced to five years in prison. At sentencing, Abbie Hoffman
Abbie Hoffman
Abbot Howard "Abbie" Hoffman was a political and social activist who co-founded the Youth International Party ....
recommended that the judge try LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
, offering to set him up with a dealer he knew in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
.
Appeal
On November 21, 1972, all of the convictions were reversed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts:* Central District of Illinois* Northern District of Illinois...
on the basis that the judge was biased in his refusal to permit defense attorneys to screen prospective jurors for cultural and racial bias. The Justice Department decided not to retry the case. During the trial, all the defendants and both defense attorneys had been cited for contempt and sentenced to jail, but all of those convictions were also overturned.
The contempt charges were retried before a different judge, who found Dellinger, Rubin, Hoffman, and Kunstler guilty of some of the charges, but opted not to sentence the defendants to jail or fines.
Documentary and dramatic presentations
Mixing fact and fiction, Haskell WexlerHaskell Wexler
Haskell Wexler, A.S.C. is an American cinematographer, film producer, and director. Wexler was judged to be one of film history's ten most influential cinematographers in a survey of the members of the International Cinematographers Guild.-Early life and education:Wexler was born to a Jewish...
's 1969 film, Medium Cool
Medium Cool
Medium Cool is an American film written and directed by Haskell Wexler and starring Robert Forster, Verna Bloom, Peter Bonerz, Marianna Hill and Harold Blankenship. It takes place in Chicago in the summer of 1968...
, centers around the relationship between a cameraman and young widow as they find themselves amid the turmoil and violence during the "long hot summer" of Chicago. Wexler mixed staged scenes with actual footage he shot from the demonstrations, his characters interacting with the protesters seamlessly. Indeed, at one point, the viewer can hear another filmmaker telling Wexler he is getting too close to the action.
French left-wing political filmmakers Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard is a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter and film critic. He is often identified with the 1960s French film movement, French Nouvelle Vague, or "New Wave"....
and Jean-Pierre Gorin
Jean-Pierre Gorin
Jean-Pierre Gorin is a French filmmaker and professor, best known for his work with Nouvelle Vague luminary Jean-Luc Godard during what is often referred to as Godard's "radical" period....
, under the collective Dziga Vertov Group
Dziga Vertov Group
The Dziga Vertov Group was formed in 1968 by politically active filmmakers including Jean-Luc Godard and Jean-Pierre Gorin. Their films are defined primarily for Brechtian forms, Marxist ideology, and a lack of personal authorship...
, made a film depicting the trials in 1970 called Vladimir et Rosa. In it, Judge Julius Hoffman
Julius Hoffman
Julius J. Hoffman was a Chicago, Illinois, attorney and judge and former law partner of Richard J. Daley who achieved notoriety for his role in the Chicago Seven trial.-Early life:...
becomes "Judge Himmler
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
" and the accused become microcosms of French revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
ary society. Lenin and Karl Rosa also appear, played by Godard and Gorin, respectively.
In the 1971 Peter Watkins
Peter Watkins
Peter Watkins is an English film and television director. He was born in Norbiton, Surrey, lived in Sweden, Canada and Lithuania for many years, and now lives in France. He is one of the pioneers of docudrama. His movies, pacifist and radical, strongly review the limit of classic documentary and...
film Punishment Park
Punishment Park
Punishment Park is a 1971 film written and directed by Peter Watkins. It is a pseudo documentary of a British and West German film crew following National Guard soldiers and police as they pursue members of a counterculture group across a desert.-Plot:...
, members of the counter-culture are put on trial for similar "crimes". Like Black Panther Party
Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party wasan African-American revolutionary leftist organization. It was active in the United States from 1966 until 1982....
activist Bobby Seale
Bobby Seale
Robert George "Bobby" Seale , is an activist. He is known for co-founding the Black Panther Party with Huey Newton.-Early life:...
, one of the African-American defendants is bound and gagged.
Woody Allen satirized the trial in his 1971 film Bananas
Bananas (film)
Bananas is a 1971 comedy film written by Mickey Rose and Woody Allen, directed by Allen, and starring himself and Louise Lasser. Parts of the plot were based on the book Don Quixote, U.S.A. by Richard P. Powell. It was filmed on location in New York City, Lima , and various locations in Puerto...
. Allen's character, Fielding Melish, is on trial and defending himself. The judge orders Melish bound and gagged. In the next scene, a bound and gagged Allen coerces a confession, ala Perry Mason, from a prosecution witness in his cross-examination.
In 1987, HBO aired Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8, a docudrama
Docudrama
In film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....
which re-enacted the trial using the court transcript as the primary source for the script. Defense attorneys William Kunstler
William Kunstler
William Moses Kunstler was an American self-described "radical lawyer" and civil rights activist, known for his controversial clients...
and Leonard Weinglass
Leonard Weinglass
Leonard Irving Weinglass was a U.S. criminal defense lawyer and constitutional law advocate. Weinglass graduated from Yale Law School in 1958, then served as a Captain, Judge Advocate, United States Air Force from 1959 to 1961. He was admitted to the bar in the states of New Jersey, New York,...
, of the Center for Constitutional Rights
Center for Constitutional Rights
Al Odah v. United States:Al Odah is the latest in a series of habeas corpus petitions on behalf of people imprisoned at the Guantanamo Bay detention center. The case challenges the Military Commissions system’s suitability as a habeas corpus substitute and the legality, in general, of detention at...
, and all eight of the original defendants participated in the project and provided commentary throughout the film. It was awarded the 1988 CableACE Award
CableACE Award
The CableACE Award was an award that was given from 1978 to 1997 to honor excellence in American cable television programming...
for Best Dramatic Special.
In 1993, British playwright John Goodchild
John Goodchild
John Arthur Goodchild, , was a physician, and later author of several works of poetry and mysticism, most famously Light of the West....
adapted the original trial transcripts for a radio play produced by L.A. Theatre Works
L.A. Theatre Works
L.A. Theatre Works is a non-profit media arts organization based in Los Angeles.- History :Founded in 1974, the organization was originally called “Artists in Prison,” and used theatre as a means to provide a voice to incarcerated men and women who were traditionally unheard and underserved. In...
, titled The Chicago Conspiracy Trial. Its cast included David Schwimmer
David Schwimmer
David Lawrence Schwimmer is an American actor and director of television and film. He was born in New York City, and his family moved to Los Angeles when he was two. He began his acting career performing in school plays at Beverly Hills High School. In 1988, he graduated from Northwestern...
(Abbie Hoffman
Abbie Hoffman
Abbot Howard "Abbie" Hoffman was a political and social activist who co-founded the Youth International Party ....
), Tom Amandes
Tom Amandes
Tom Amandes is an American actor. His best known role to date is that of the role of Dr. Harold "Hal" Abbott on the The WB Drama series Everwood, and as Eliot Ness in the 1990's version of The Untouchables TV series.- Career :...
(Richard Schultz
Richard Schultz
Richard Schultz was one of the prosecutors in the Chicago Seven trial that took place in the late 1960s.Schultz, then an assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, attended DePaul University College of Law...
), George Murdock
George Murdock
George Peter Murdock was a notable American anthropologist. He is remembered for his empirical approach to ethnological studies and his landmark works on Old World populations.-Early life:...
(Judge Julius Hoffman
Julius Hoffman
Julius J. Hoffman was a Chicago, Illinois, attorney and judge and former law partner of Richard J. Daley who achieved notoriety for his role in the Chicago Seven trial.-Early life:...
), and Mike Nussbaum
Mike Nussbaum
Michael Nussbaum is an American actor and director.From the start of his acting career in the 1950s, Nussbaum has appeared in many of David Mamet's plays both on and off Broadway, as well as in Chicago...
(William Kunstler
William Kunstler
William Moses Kunstler was an American self-described "radical lawyer" and civil rights activist, known for his controversial clients...
). The play received a New York Festivals award in 1993.
The 2000 film, Steal This Movie, mostly tells the story of Abbie Hoffman (played by Vincent D'Onofrio
Vincent D'Onofrio
Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio is an American actor, director, film producer, writer, and singer. Often referred to as an actor's actor, his work as a character actor has earned him the nickname of "Human Chameleon"...
) but also looks at the trial.
In the 2007 film Chicago 10
Chicago 10 (film)
Chicago 10: Speak Your Peace is a partially animated film written and directed by Brett Morgen that tells the story of the Chicago Eight...
, Oscar-nominated director Brett Morgen intercuts archival footage from the period, including the events of August 1968, with animated scenes from the trial drawn from the court transcript. The film premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and released in theaters in February 2008.
A feature film made at the time of the trial, based on the trial transcript and distributed by New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
, The Great Chicago Conspiracy Circus, by Cannes
Cannes
Cannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department....
-winning director Kerry Feltham, was released in January 2008 on DVD. The film won the Berlin Film Festival jury prize, as well as positive reviews from the New York Times and Newsweek.
Archival footage of events at the Chicago demonstrations was featured in the 2010 documentary Phil Ochs: There but for Fortune
Phil Ochs: There but for Fortune
Phil Ochs: There but for Fortune is a documentary film on the life and times of folk singer-songwriter Phil Ochs. The film, released theatrically in January 2011, was written and directed by Kenneth Bowser...
. The film, which also featured interviews with many of Ochs' associates, including Rubin and Hoffman, was a dual portrait of the singer-songwriter's career and the protest movements of the 1960s.
The Chicago 8
The Chicago 8
The Chicago 8 is a 2010 independent drama film starring Philip Baker Hall, Gary Cole, Steven Culp and Mayim Bialik. The film is based on on actual court transcripts from the Chicago Seven trial. The Chicago 8 is written and directed by Pinchas Perry. Pinchas Perry, Al Bravo, Shirly Brener, Kate...
, written and directed by Pinchas Perry, was filmed in September and October 2009 and is scheduled to release on October 23, 2011. The film is based closely on the trial transcripts and most of the action takes place in the courtroom.
Writer Aaron Sorkin
Aaron Sorkin
Aaron Benjamin Sorkin is an Academy and Emmy award winning American screenwriter, producer, and playwright, whose works include A Few Good Men, The American President, The West Wing, Sports Night, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, The Social Network, and Moneyball.After graduating from Syracuse...
wrote a script entitled The Trial of the Chicago 7, based on the conspiracy trial. Producers Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
, Walter F. Parkes
Walter F. Parkes
Walter F. Parkes is an American film producer, writer and former studio head.- Biography :Parkes has been associated with DreamWorks Pictures, which he ran from its inception in 1994 until 2005...
, and Laurie MacDonald
Laurie MacDonald
Laurie MacDonald is a film producer. She is married to Walter F. Parkes and is a production executive of DreamWorks. Her credits include:*The Ring*The Terminal*Cloud Atlas *Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events...
collaborated on the development of Sorkin's script, with Spielberg intending to direct the film. Sacha Baron Cohen
Sacha Baron Cohen
Sacha Noam Baron Cohen is an English stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and voice artist. He is most widely known for his portrayal of three unorthodox fictional characters: Ali G, Borat, and Brüno...
was originally cast as Abbie Hoffman
Abbie Hoffman
Abbot Howard "Abbie" Hoffman was a political and social activist who co-founded the Youth International Party ....
, while Spielberg approached Will Smith
Will Smith
Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood...
for the role of Bobby Seale, and planned to meet Heath Ledger
Heath Ledger
Heath Andrew Ledger was an Australian television and film actor. After performing roles in Australian television and film during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 to develop his film career...
about the possibility of playing Tom Hayden. The WGA strike, which lasted for 100 days, meant Spielberg was unable to begin filming in April 2008 and he suspended the project. Subsequently, Sorkin was to continue to rewrite the script for Spielberg, and the director intended to mostly cast unknowns to keep the budget down. Paul Greengrass
Paul Greengrass
Paul Greengrass is an English film director, screenwriter and former journalist. He specialises in dramatisations of real-life events and is known for his signature use of hand-held cameras.-Life and career:...
and Ben Stiller
Ben Stiller
Benjamin Edward "Ben" Stiller is an American comedian, actor, writer, film director, and producer. He is the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara....
have been rumored as replacement directors, but the project has apparently not moved forward.
See also
- Seattle Liberation FrontSeattle Liberation FrontThe Seattle Liberation Front, or SLF, was a radical anti-Vietnam War movement, based in Seattle, Washington, in the United States. The group, founded by then-University of Washington visiting philosophy professor and political activist Michael Lerner, carried out its protest activities from 1970 to...
- Days of RageDays of RageThe Days of Rage demonstrations were a series of direct actions taken over a course of three days in October 1969 in Chicago organized by the Weatherman faction of the Students for a Democratic Society...
Further reading
Four editions of the edited transcript of the trial have been published:- Edited by Judy Clavir and John Spitzer. The Conspiracy Trial: The extended edited transcript of the trial of the Chicago Eight. Complete with motions, rulings, contempt citations, sentences and photographs. Introduction by William KunstlerWilliam KunstlerWilliam Moses Kunstler was an American self-described "radical lawyer" and civil rights activist, known for his controversial clients...
and foreword by Leonard WeinglassLeonard WeinglassLeonard Irving Weinglass was a U.S. criminal defense lawyer and constitutional law advocate. Weinglass graduated from Yale Law School in 1958, then served as a Captain, Judge Advocate, United States Air Force from 1959 to 1961. He was admitted to the bar in the states of New Jersey, New York,...
. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1970. - Edited and with illustrations by Jules FeifferJules FeifferJules Ralph Feiffer is an American syndicated cartoonist, most notable for his long-run comic strip titled Feiffer. He has created more than 35 books, plays and screenplays...
. Pictures at a Prosecution: Drawings and Texts from the Chicago Conspiracy Trial. New York, Grove Press, Inc., 1971. - Edited by Mark L. Levine, George C. McNamee, and Daniel Greenberg. The Tales of Hoffman. Introduction by Dwight MacDonaldDwight MacdonaldDwight Macdonald was an American writer, editor, film critic, social critic, philosopher, and political radical.-Early life and career:...
. New York: Bantam, 1970. - Edited by Jon WienerJon WienerJon Wiener is an American professor of history at the University of California Irvine, a contributing editor to The Nation magazine, and a Los Angeles radio host. He was the plaintiff in a Freedom of Information lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Investigation for its files on John Lennon.-...
. Conspiracy in the Streets: The Extraordinary Trial of the Chicago Eight. Foreword by Tom HaydenTom HaydenThomas Emmet "Tom" Hayden is an American social and political activist and politician, known for his involvement in the animal rights, and the anti-war and civil rights movements of the 1960s. He is the former husband of actress Jane Fonda and the father of actor Troy Garity.-Life and...
and drawings by Jules FeifferJules FeifferJules Ralph Feiffer is an American syndicated cartoonist, most notable for his long-run comic strip titled Feiffer. He has created more than 35 books, plays and screenplays...
. New York: The New Press, 2006. ISBN 9781565848337
Books about the trial:
- Epstein, Jason. Great Conspiracy Trial. New York: Random House and Vintage Books. 1970. ISBN 0394419065
- Hoffman, Abbie and others. The Conspiracy. New York: Dell, 1969.
- Lukas, J. Anthony. The Barnyard Epithet & Other Obscenities: Notes on the Chicago Conspiracy Trial. Drawings by Irene Siegel. NYC: Harper & Row, 1970.
- Okpaku, Joseph and Verna Sadock. Verdict! The Exclusive Picture Story of the Trial of the Chicago 8 New York: The Third Press—Joseph Okpaku Publishing Co., Inc., 1970.
- Schultz, John. Motion Will Be Denied: A New Report on the Chicago Conspiracy Trial. New York: Morrow, 1972. Revised and published as The Chicago Conspiracy Trial. New introduction by Carl OglesbyCarl OglesbyCarl Oglesby was an American writer, academic, and political activist. He was the President of the leftist student organization Students for a Democratic Society from 1965 to 1966.-Early years:...
and new afterword by the author. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009. ISBN 9780226741147
External links
- The Chicago Seven.
- The Chicago Seven Trial.
- Chicago 10 (2007) at imdb.com Chicago 10 (2007) documentary.
- An excerpt from The Chicago Conspiracy Trial: Revised Edition by John SchultzJohn Schultz (writer)John Schultz is an American writer of fiction and non-fiction. He is also a teacher of writing, the creator of the Story Workshop method of writing instruction, and a professor and chair of the Fiction Writing Department at Columbia College, Chicago...
.