Alan Shaw

AKA: Alan Lifshutz
Released
Date of birth:13. 11. 1918
Age:107
Gender:Male
Race:White
Era:1940s
State:Oklahoma
Support
Communism Communist Party USA
Alan Shaw

Biography

Alan Shaw was the 22-year-old Oklahoma City secretary of the Communist Party, arrested in August 1940 and held in the Oklahoma County Jail on $20,000 bond — spending his 22nd birthday in jail. Tried in December 1940, he was convicted and sentenced to ten years plus a $5,000 fine under the criminal-syndicalism law.

Case

Oklahoma County Jail
Charges: Criminal syndicalism (Oklahoma) — as the Oklahoma City secretary of the Communist Party.
Arrested: Aug 17, 1940
Sentenced: Dec 9, 1940
Incarcerated: Aug 17, 1940
Sentence: Ten years in the state penitentiary plus a $5,000 fine. Held in the Oklahoma County Jail on $20,000 bond from his August 17, 1940 arrest through his December 1940 trial (minimum proven confinement about 114–115 days). He was released on appeal bond by early 1941 — he spoke at a New York defense rally on January 22, 1941 — so he did not remain imprisoned until the 1943 reversal; the exact release date is not documented. Verdict as recorded: Yes — convicted of criminal syndicalism on December 9, 1940; the conviction was reversed by the Oklahoma Criminal Court of Appeals in 1943 (Shaw v. State, decided February 17, 1943; rehearing denied May 19, 1943). Charges as recorded: Criminal syndicalism (Oklahoma) — as the Oklahoma City secretary of the Communist Party. Arrested on a complaint sworn August 17, 1940.
Convicted: Yes
Institution State: Oklahoma

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