Draft:Harisiades v. Shaughnessy

Harisiades v. Shaughnessy
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued 5 December, 1951 Decided 10 March, 1952
Full case name	Harisiades v. Shaughnessy, District Director of Immigration and Naturalization
Citations	342 U.S. 580 (more)
Holding
Affirmed ruling of the lower court; The Alien Registration Act of 1940's authorization of deportation for legal residents based on Communist Party membership, even past, does not violate the Fifth Amendment, the First Amendment, Due Process, nor the Ex Post Facto Clause.
Court membership
Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson Associate Justices Hugo Black · Stanley F. Reed Felix Frankfurter · William O. Douglas Robert H. Jackson · Harold H. Burton Tom C. Clark · Sherman Minton
Case opinions
Majority	Jackson, joined by Minton, Reed, Vinson, and Burton
Concurrence	Frankfurter
Dissent	Douglas, joined by Black
Clark took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.

Harisiades v. Shaughnessy, 342 U.S. 580 (1952), was a United States Supreme Court case which determined that the Alien Registration Act of 1940's authorization of deportation of legal resident for membership in the Communist Party, even past, did not violate the First Amendment, the Fifth Amendment, nor the constitution's Ex Post Facto Clause.

The case was a consolidation of three similar cases, Mascitti v. McGrath, Coleman v. McGrath, and Harisiades v. Shaughnessy, all brought by legal residents of the United States in the process of being deported under the Alien Registration Act of 1940 for their participation in Communist political parties.

Background

The Alien Registration Act of 1940

Main article: Smith Act

The Alien Registration Act of 1940, also known as the Smith Act, authorizes deportation of legal residents of the United States as a penalty for advocacy to overthrow the government under title 2.

U.S. Constitution protection of legal residents

Legal residents, though not citizens, are protected by most constitutional rights.

Harisiades

Harisiades was a Greek immigrant who came to United States at 13 years old with his father in 1916.

Mascitti

Mascitti was an Italian immigrant who came to the country in 1920 at 16 years old.

Dora Coleman

Coleman was a Russian immigrant who came to the United States in 1914 at the age of 13.

McGrath and Shaughnessy

J. Howard McGrath was U.S. Attorneys General from 1949 to 1952. Edward J. Shaughnessy was the District Director of Immigration and Naturalization .

District court

In 1950, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Supreme Court

The cases of Harisiades, Mascitti, and Coleman, all legal residents, were consolidated into one due to the similarities in facts. The ruling was 6-2, with Justices Douglas and Black in Dissent. Justice Tom Clark took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.

Majority

Justice Robert Jackson wrote for the majority. The majority affirmed the lower court's ruling on the case, rejecting the plaintiffs request to prevent their deportations. It concluded that the law and it's application did not deprive the residents of liberty without due process in violation of the Fifth Amendment, violate the First Amendment's freedom of speech and assembly clause, cause severe hardship as to violate the Due Process Clause, nor constitutes an unconstitutional ''ex post facto'' law. Not an overstep of Congress.

Frankfurter concurrence

Justice Feliz Frankfurter wrote in Concurrence with the majority opinion.

Douglas dissent

Justice William Douglas wrote in dissent of the majority opinion, with which Justice Hugo Black concurred. His primary argument was that the Alien Registration Act punished past belief and ideology, not conduct, and therefore violated the deportee's freedom of speech .

Impact

Harisiades v. Shaughnessy had an impact on both immigration and first amendment law/jurisprudence.

Citation in future cases

Harisiades v. Shaughnessy was cited in the 2018 Supreme Court case Trump v. Hawaii.

See also

• Alien Registration Act of 1940
• Immigration and Naturalization Service
• First Red Scare