The Outrageous Chicago Conspiracy Trial of 1968-1969

The Chicago Conspiracy Trial of 1968-1969 would be a turning point in America's history, and one in which the lawyers were charged with the duty of exonerating the defendants and validating the politics and values of the sixties. This case affected and influenced young people in the counterculture and antiwar movements during 1968-1969. The policy issue in this case was a concerted course of action followed to achieve certain ends, a plan. The US government was using the trial to stifle dissenters and the defense lawyers were putting the government on trial in defense of the counterculture.

The case was United States v. Dellinger et al. and the defendants were Dave Dellinger, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden, Bobby Seale, Rennie Davis, John Froines, and Lee Weiner. The debate was over the charge of conspiracy. Officially, the defendants were charged with conspiracy and with crossing state lines with intent to incite, organize, promote and encourage riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, in violation of a year-old statute, know as the Rap Brown Statute.

The Rap Brown Statute signed into law on April 11, 1968, was passed during a time when the administration was disturbed by the rebellions of black residents in Newark, Los Angeles, Detroit, and other cities. By creating an antiriot statute and naming it after Rap Brown, an outspoken black activist, the government attempted to link in the public perception black militants with antiwar protestors, most of whom were white. Chicago was to become a proving ground for the political-legal defense. When the trial first began, the defense strategy was to demonstrate that the Rap Brown Statute was unconstitutional and violated the First Amendment because it criminalized thought.