Arthur Garfield Hays (December 12, 1881 – December 14, 1954) was an American lawyer and champion of civil liberties issues, best known as a co-founder and general counsel of the American Civil Liberties Union and for participating in notable cases including the Sacco and Vanzetti trial. He was a member of the Committee of 48 and a contributor to The New Republic.

Early life and education

thumb|right|[[Columbia University.]]

Arthur Garfield Hays was born on December 12, 1881, in Rochester, New York. Three months earlier, the death of James A. Garfield had installed Chester A. Arthur in the U.S. presidency. His father and mother, both of German Jewish descent, belonged to prosperous families in the clothing manufacturing industry. In 1902, he graduated from Columbia College, where he was one of the early members of the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity. In 1905, he received an LLB from Columbia Law School and was admitted to the New York bar. as well as the Scopes trial (often called the "monkey trial") in 1925, the American Mercury censorship case (1926);

Hays also defended labor. He defended coal miners in disputes in Pennsylvania and West Virginia (1922–1935), including the Anthracite Coal Strike of 1922. He defended right-to-strike cases against Jersey City mayor Frank "Boss" Hague. Furthermore, he defended British writer (and CPGB member) John Strachey against deportation. Hays led the plaintiff in Emerson Jennings vs. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania conspiracy case. He represented the Jehovah's Witnesses and argued for the right not to salute the American flag.

From 1939 to 1943, he represented sociologist Jerome Davis in a libel suit filed against Curtis Publishing, publishers of the Saturday Evening Post magazine and its reporter Benjamin Stolberg.

Film censorship case over Whirlpool of Desire

From the IMDB entry for Remous (France, 1935) directed by Edmond T. Greville:

Albany, New York - Monday, January 23, 1939: "The French film Remous was shown Friday [January 20] to five judges of the New York State Appellate Division in proceedings in the attempt by Arthur Mayer and Joseph Burstyn to get a license to screen it in New York State. The picture has twice been denied a license, first in August 1936, when it was rejected as being "indecent," "immoral," and tending to "corrupt morals." It was again rejected in November 1937. In March 1938, it was screened for the New York Board of Regents, which on April 14 disapproved application for a license. Hays, counsel for Mayer and Burstyn at yesterday's proceedings, ridiculed the objections of Irwin Esmond and the Regents to certain scenes, pointing out that the film was French and would appeal only to an educated audience. Counsel for the Regents based his plea on the film's theme of sex frustration, arguing that it would be unwise public policy to show it to all classes of people.

In November 1939, Mayer and Burstyn released the film in the US as Whirlpool of Desire. Film censorship in the United States was not overturned until the U.S. Supreme Court case, the Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson (the "Miracle Decision") in 1952.

Politics

Progressive Party

[[File:1924prescountymap.PNG|thumb|right|1924 Presidential election results by county.

— light = plurality, green = over 50%]]

In 1924, Hays served as New York State chairman of the second Progressive Party.</blockquote> His greatest criticism regarded McCarthy's methods. He defended Owen Lattimore and Philip Jessup but conceded that there were "a few" communists in the State Department and cited Alger Hiss.

He married Aline Davis Fleisher in 1924, and they had a daughter Jane. Aline Fleisher Hays died in 1944.

Hays died of a heart attack on December 14, 1954, at the age of 73.

Legacy

In 1958, New York University established the Arthur Garfield Hays Civil Liberties Program at its School of Law.

Princeton University houses the Arthur Garfield Hays Papers. also known as Hays, St. John, Abramson & Heilbron, of which Osmond K. Fraenkel was later a member.

Works

Hays wrote numerous books, articles, and essays on civil liberties issues. As a gifted writer and debater, he added his perspective to virtually every individual rights issue of his day. His autobiography, entitled City Lawyer: The Autobiography of a Law Practice (1942), provides an account of his more noteworthy cases. His articles and book reviews demonstrate his wide-ranging knowledge of a nation and a world experiencing dramatic change in the way individual rights were perceived.

  • Let Freedom Ring (1928, rev. ed. 1937)
  • Trial by Prejudice (1937)
  • Democracy Works (1939)
  • City Lawyer: The Autobiography of a Law Practice (1942)

References

  • Arthur Garfield Hays Papers held by Princeton University Library Special Collections