For the first time in the history of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Jews were excluded from serving on a jury today, by mutual agreement of opposing counsel.
The agreement was reached in two libel suits brought in Suffolk Superior Court by the Artkino Guild, Inc., a theater exhibiting Soviet films against the Industrial Defense Association, an “organization” which spreads anti-Semitic propaganda under the guise of anti-Communism, and Edward H. Hunter, its secretary.
Artkino demands $100,000 in each of the actions, citing a report circulated by Hunter in which he listed Edward A. Filene, Rabbi Harry Levi, Dean Roscoe Pound of Harvard Law School, Professor Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Dana and Mary E. Woolley, president of Mount Holyoke College, as “known in red circles.” Libelous statements about Artkino are contained in the report, the Guild charges.
Decision to bar Jews from the jury, it was believed, was reached on the ground that it would have been difficult for them to have been impartial in this case, since it involves Hunter and his “organization,” which depends on racial prejudice for its existence. It was further pointed out that Filene and Rabbi Levi, whom Hunter has attacked, are prominent members of the Jewish community, while the others whom he has labeled “red” sympathizers are outstanding exponents of tolerance.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
