John C. Fitting (State case)

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Charge:	Hate Crime - speech only
Sentence:	12 to 14 months & fine
Years Imprisoned:	0.75
Year Crime:	1940
Year Convicted:	1941
Year Cleared:	1941
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	New Jersey
County or Region of Crime:	Sussex
City of Crime:	Andover
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Gerhard Wilhelm Kunze, August Klapprott, Matthias Kohler, Leonard D. Clark, Rev. Rev. John C. Fitting, Richard Schiele, Paul Schaarschmidt, Carl Schipphorst, and George Neuppert were members of the German-American Bund wrongly convicted on January 30, 1941 of violating a New Jersey statute forbidding the inciting of racial hatred durng a Bund meeting at Camp Nordland, Andover, New Jersey. After their convictions by a jury the nine codefendants were sentenced to serve twelve to 14 months in state prison. On appeal the convictions of all nine were reversed on December 5, 1941 by the New Jersey Supreme Court on the ground that the statute unconstitutionally infringed on freedom of speech and expression."
Conviction Caused By:
Innocence Proved By:	"On appeal the convictions of all nine were reversed on December 5, 1941 by the New Jersey Supreme Court on the ground that the statute unconstitutionally infringed on freedom of speech and expression."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:
Age When Released:
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"1941 New Jersey "race hatred" trial, Metapedia.org (last viewed 11-12-2015)"
Information Location 1:	http://en.metapedia.org/wiki/1941_New_Jersey_%22race_hatred%22_trial
Information Source 2:	"Vonsiatsky Espionage, Famous Cases & Criminals, FBI.gov (last viewed 11-12-2015)"
Information Location 2:	https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/history/famous-cases/vonsiatsky-espionage
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John C. Fitting (State case)

Charge:

Hate Crime - speech only

Sentence:

12 to 14 months & fine

Years Imprisoned:

0.75

Year Crime:

1940

Year Convicted:

1941

Year Cleared:

1941

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

New Jersey

County or Region of Crime:

Sussex

City of Crime:

Andover

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

"On appeal the convictions of all nine were reversed on December 5, 1941 by the New Jersey Supreme Court on the ground that the statute unconstitutionally infringed on freedom of speech and expression."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"1941 New Jersey "race hatred" trial, Metapedia.org (last viewed 11-12-2015)"

Information Location 1:

http://en.metapedia.org/wiki/1941_New_Jersey_%22race_hatred%22_trial

Information Source 2:

"Vonsiatsky Espionage, Famous Cases & Criminals, FBI.gov (last viewed 11-12-2015)"

Information Location 2:

https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/history/famous-cases/vonsiatsky-espionage

Information Source 3:

Information Location 3:

Information Source 4:

Information Location 4:

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: