Biography
Oscar Smilack was cited for contempt of an Ohio un-American activities committee in Columbus after refusing to name his political affiliations during the McCarthy era. He was committed "for observation" to the Lima State Hospital for the criminally insane, where he was held 13 days before being freed on a writ of habeas corpus.
Calculated release date for the stay beginning May 29, 1952: June 11, 1952, adding the recorded completed custody duration of 13 days with elapsed-calendar-day counting. This is a calculated date from the recorded admission and duration, not a separately documented physical-discharge date.
Calculated release date
Calculated release date for the stay beginning May 29, 1952: June 11, 1952, adding the recorded completed custody duration of 13 days with elapsed-calendar-day counting. This is a calculated date from the recorded admission and duration, not a separately documented physical-discharge date.
The June 26, 1952 Guardian reports that Oscar Smilack pleaded not guilty at his contempt arraignment before Common Pleas Judge John R. Kling. Prosecutor Ralph J. Bartlett recommended a thirty-day observation commitment; the paper reports actual release on habeas corpus after thirteen days. The ordered thirty days is not the duration served. Existing physical dates and the thirteen-day total remain separately recorded.
