Round One to Caesar

Congress thought earlier this year that it was cutting James Caesar Petrillo down to size with the Lea act, which made it a federal crime to force radio stations to hire unwanted help. After talking with his lawyers, Caesar thought otherwise, trumpeted: "I will fight the Lea bill right up to the Supreme Court."

Last week the first round went to the trumpeter. In Chicago, Federal District Judge Walter LaBuy threw out U.S. charges against Petrillo for calling a strike at station WAAF, a one-kilowatt independent which had refused to double its union staff of record librarians (TIME, June 10). The Lea act, ruled the judge, violated the1st, 5th and 13th Amendments. Cried imperial Caesar with pious fervency: "Thank God for the federal courts."

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