The Volokh Conspiracy

Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independent

Crime

Playing ping-pong in shorts, just like a Red

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Quite a way to begin an opinion, from Kremen v. United States, 231 F.2d 155 (9th Cir. 1956), authored by Judge Dal Lemmon:

A depressing tale of lies, disguises, and aliases resorted to by a group of seasoned subversives, referred to by their own attorneys as 'these Communists', is unfolded by the record in this case.

It is a tale of how a handful of Reds sought to shield a convicted member of their group from condign punishment.

It is a tale of the devious practices to which they resorted in their almost successful efforts to cheat the law.

It is, finally, a tale of how their deceptions and their subterfuges were frustrated at last by the patient labors of Federal 'Cossacks', as officers of the law are sometimes contemptuously called by the Reds.

With regard to the means used by 'the Communists' to help a pair of their leaders to thwart justice, it is naive indeed to expect to find them hiding in alleys, skulking in twilight corners, turning up their coat collars, or pulling their hats down over their eyes.

No; the hard-core members are far too adroit and well-instructed for such amateurish cloak-and-dagger technique. They select a quiet village, rent a cabin, and then, wearing shorts, play ping-pong in their front yard. Or they add touching domestic notes, hanging up the family wash or buying groceries at the village store.

The Supreme Court reversed in a per curiam opinion, Kremen v. United States, 353 U.S. 346 (1957).