Sixth Round

The Justice Department lost another round last week in its fight against Johns Hopkins University's Owen Lattimore, accused of contributing to Communist advances in Asia by his activities and in fluence in the U.S. as a former State Department adviser on Far Eastern policy (TIME, April 3, 1950 et seq.}. The legal battle, round by round:

One. On Dec. 16, 1952, a federal grand jury in Washington indicted Lattimore on seven counts of perjury, the key one for denying under oath that he was a Communist "sympathizer."

Two. On May 2, 1953. U.S. District Judge Luther W. Youngdahl dismissed four counts, including the key charge, for "vagueness" in violation of the Sixth Amendment -- which requires that defend ants be informed of the exact charges against them.

Three. On July 8, 1954, a U.S. Court of Appeals reinstated two minor counts by a 5-to-4 vote, but upheld Youngdahl's dismissal of two others, including the key charge, 8 to 1.

Four. On Oct. 7, 1954, another federal grand jury reindicted Lattimore on two counts as "a follower of the Communist line" and "a promoter of Communist interests," citing as evidence 132 instances in which, it said, his writings followed the party line.

Five. On Jan. 18, 1955, Judge Youngdahl, labeling the 132 instances "chance parallelism," dismissed the two new counts as "vague charges" which would "make a sham of the Sixth Amendment."

Six. Last week the U.S. Court of Appeals again upheld Youngdahl's dismissal, this time by a tie 4-to-4 vote (death has caused a vacancy on the bench).

The Justice Department must now decide whether to appeal to the Supreme Court, to seek a conviction on the remaining minor counts, or to drop its case against Owen Lattimore, who is currently traveling and lecturing in Europe.

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