Biography
John F. Randolph, a Socialist from Auburn, New York, received a sentence of ten years, which was commuted on November 21, 1918. Randolph was convicted solely for stating in a "lunch room" conversation that the U.S. government was "rotten, " that he "never bought a liberty bond" and that he did not "believe in conscription." After being found guilty, he told the U.S. district court judge that his trial and conviction were "a joke." The prosecuting U.S. attorney recommended against Randolph's release, stating that the "defendant had no use for civilization and is better off in confinement."
