Frank Wilkinson

Released
Date of birth:16. 08. 1914
Date of death:02. 01. 2006
Age:91† Deceased
Gender:Male
Race:White
Era:1960s
State:California
Time Imprisoned:
9 Months 0 Days
Support
Civil Liberties
Frank Wilkinson

Biography

Frank Wilkinson was a Los Angeles public-housing official turned civil-liberties organizer who devoted his life to abolishing the House Un-American Activities Committee, founding the National Committee to Abolish HUAC (later the National Committee Against Repressive Legislation). Subpoenaed by HUAC in Atlanta in 1958, he refused to answer its questions, invoking the First Amendment. Convicted of contempt of Congress, he lost his appeal when the Supreme Court affirmed 5–4 in Wilkinson v. United States (365 U.S. 399, 1961) — decided alongside Carl Braden's case — and served nine months in federal prison. The FBI kept a file on him that grew to some 132,000 pages.

Case

USP Lewisburg
Charges: Contempt of Congress.
Incarcerated: May 1, 1961
Released: Feb 1, 1962
Sentence: Sentenced to twelve months; served about nine months in federal prison (1961–1962). Verdict as recorded: Yes — conviction affirmed 5–4 by the Supreme Court in Wilkinson v. United States, 365 U.S. 399 (1961). Charges as recorded: Contempt of Congress — for refusing, on First Amendment grounds, to answer the House Un-American Activities Committee (Atlanta, 1958) about his organizing to abolish the committee.
Convicted: Yes
Institution State: Pennsylvania

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