Greenspun Wins

One of the oldest and noisiest foes of Senator Joe McCarthy is Herman M. Greenspun, 45, publisher of the Las Vegas Sun (circ. 12,437). In the columns of the Sun, "Hank" Greenspun has repeatedly called McCarthy "a secret Communist" and a "disreputable pervert." Reluctant to sue, and thus give currency to Green-spun's charges, but goaded to do something, McCarthy's office last year asked the Post Office Department whether the Sun should lose its second-class mailing privileges (TIME, April 19, 1954).

A federal grand jury indicted Greenspun on charges that he violated postal laws by mailing newspapers carrying a column "tending to incite murder or assassination" of McCarthy. Sample lines from the Greenspun column offered in evidence: "Senator Joe McCarthy has to come to a violent end . . . The chances are that McCarthy will be laid to rest at the hands of some poor, innocent slob whose reputation and life he has destroyed through his ... smear technique." Last week, after a five-day trial, a jury deliberated only two hours and 45 minutes, found Greenspun not guilty. Jurors said later that the Government failed to prove that the Greenspun column actually incited anyone to try to kill McCarthy.

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