The Yates and Noto decisions undermined the Smith Act and marked the beginning of the end of CPUSA membership inquiries.
When the trials came to an end in 1958, 144 people had been indicted, resulting in 105 convictions, with cumulative sentences totaling 418 years and $435,500 ($4,192,915 in 2019 dollars) in fines.
Fewer than half the convicted communists served jail time.
The Smith Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2385, though amended several times, has not been repealed.

For two decades after the Dennis decision, free speech issues related to advocacy of violence were decided using balancing tests such as the one initially articulated in Dennis.
In 1969, the court established stronger protections for speech in the landmark case Brandenburg v. Ohio which held that "the constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press do not permit a State to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force or of law violation except where such advocacy is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action".
Brandenburg is now the standard applied by the Court to free speech issues related to advocacy of violence.

The Smith Act trials decimated the leadership ranks of the CPUSA.
Immediately after the 1949 trial, the CPUSA – alarmed at the undercover informants that had testified for the prosecution – initiated efforts to identify and exclude informers from its membership.
The FBI encouraged these suspicions by planting fabricated evidence which suggested that many innocent Party members were FBI informants.
Dennis attempted to provide leadership from inside the Atlanta penitentiary, but prison officials censored his mail and successfully isolated him from the outside world.
Prison officials from the Lewisburg prison prevented Williamson from writing to anyone other than immediate family members.
Lacking leadership, the CPUSA suffered from internal dissension and disorder, and by 1953 the CPUSA's leadership structure was inoperative.
In 1956, Nikita Khrushchev revealed the reality of Stalin's purges, causing many remaining CPUSA members to quit in disillusionment.
By the late 1950s, the CPUSA's membership had dwindled to 5,000, of whom over 1,000 may have been FBI informants.

The defendants at the 1949 trial were released from prison in the mid-1950s.
Gus Hall served as a Party leader for another 40 years; he supported the policies of the Soviet Union, and ran for president four times from 1972 to 1984.
Eugene Dennis continued to be involved in the CPUSA and died in 1961.
Benjamin J. Davis died in 1964.
Jack Stachel, who continued working on the Daily Worker, died in 1966.
John Gates became disillusioned with the CPUSA after the revelation of Stalin's Great Purge; he quit the Party in 1958 and later gave a television interview to Mike Wallace in which he blamed the CPUSA's "unshaken faith" in the Soviet Union for the organization's downfall.

Henry Winston became co-chair of the CPUSA (with Hall) in 1966 and was awarded the Order of the October Revolution by the Soviet Union in 1976.
After leaving prison, Carl Winter resumed Party activities, became editor of the Daily Worker in 1966, and died in 1991.
Gil Green was released from Leavenworth prison in 1961 and continued working with the CPUSA to oppose the Vietnam War.
Party leader William Z. Foster, 69 years old at the time of the 1949 trial, was never tried due to ill health; he retired from the Party in 1957 and died in Moscow in 1961.

John Williamson was released early, in 1955, and deported to England, although he had lived in the United States since the age of ten.
Irving Potash moved to Poland after his release from prison, then re-entered the United States illegally in 1957, and was arrested and sentenced to two years for violating immigration laws.
Robert G. Thompson skipped bail, was captured in 1953, and sentenced to an additional four years.
He died in 1965 and US Army officials refused him burial in Arlington National Cemetery.
His wife challenged that decision, first losing in US District Court and then winning in the Court of Appeals.
Defense attorney George W. Crockett Jr. l
The Yates and Noto decisions undermined the Smith Act and marked the beginning of the end of CPUSA membership inquiries. When the trials came to an end in 1958, 144 people had been indicted, resulting in 105 convictions, with cumulative sentences totaling 418 years and $435,500 ($4,192,915 in 2019 dollars) in fines. Fewer than half the convicted communists served jail time. The Smith Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2385, though amended several times, has not been repealed.
For two decades after the Dennis decision, free speech issues related to advocacy of violence were decided using balancing tests such as the one initially articulated in Dennis. In 1969, the court established stronger protections for speech in the landmark case Brandenburg v. Ohio which held that "the constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press do not permit a State to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force or of law violation except where such advocacy is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action". Brandenburg is now the standard applied by the Court to free speech issues related to advocacy of violence.
The Smith Act trials decimated the leadership ranks of the CPUSA. Immediately after the 1949 trial, the CPUSA – alarmed at the undercover informants that had testified for the prosecution – initiated efforts to identify and exclude informers from its membership. The FBI encouraged these suspicions by planting fabricated evidence which suggested that many innocent Party members were FBI informants. Dennis attempted to provide leadership from inside the Atlanta penitentiary, but prison officials censored his mail and successfully isolated him from the outside world. Prison officials from the Lewisburg prison prevented Williamson from writing to anyone other than immediate family members. Lacking leadership, the CPUSA suffered from internal dissension and disorder, and by 1953 the CPUSA's leadership structure was inoperative. In 1956, Nikita Khrushchev revealed the reality of Stalin's purges, causing many remaining CPUSA members to quit in disillusionment. By the late 1950s, the CPUSA's membership had dwindled to 5,000, of whom over 1,000 may have been FBI informants.
The defendants at the 1949 trial were released from prison in the mid-1950s. Gus Hall served as a Party leader for another 40 years; he supported the policies of the Soviet Union, and ran for president four times from 1972 to 1984. Eugene Dennis continued to be involved in the CPUSA and died in 1961. Benjamin J. Davis died in 1964. Jack Stachel, who continued working on the Daily Worker, died in 1966. John Gates became disillusioned with the CPUSA after the revelation of Stalin's Great Purge; he quit the Party in 1958 and later gave a television interview to Mike Wallace in which he blamed the CPUSA's "unshaken faith" in the Soviet Union for the organization's downfall.
Henry Winston became co-chair of the CPUSA (with Hall) in 1966 and was awarded the Order of the October Revolution by the Soviet Union in 1976. After leaving prison, Carl Winter resumed Party activities, became editor of the Daily Worker in 1966, and died in 1991. Gil Green was released from Leavenworth prison in 1961 and continued working with the CPUSA to oppose the Vietnam War. Party leader William Z. Foster, 69 years old at the time of the 1949 trial, was never tried due to ill health; he retired from the Party in 1957 and died in Moscow in 1961.
John Williamson was released early, in 1955, and deported to England, although he had lived in the United States since the age of ten. Irving Potash moved to Poland after his release from prison, then re-entered the United States illegally in 1957, and was arrested and sentenced to two years for violating immigration laws. Robert G. Thompson skipped bail, was captured in 1953, and sentenced to an additional four years. He died in 1965 and US Army officials refused him burial in Arlington National Cemetery. His wife challenged that decision, first losing in US District Court and then winning in the Court of Appeals. Defense attorney George W. Crockett Jr. l
Smith Act trials of Communist Party leaders