d witnesses for the Committees at all levels.
One of the most disturbing features of the investigations was that witnesses were not only asked whether they were members of the Communist Party, but were also called upon to "finger" other people who were members or associated with members. It was frightening, and violated the First Amendment. One witness, playwright, Lillian Hellman told HUAC: "I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit the years fashion", and added that she refused to "crawl through the mud to be an informer". A major constitutional issue was raised when Ten Hollywood entertainment personalities were brought before the HUAC and they invoked the First Amendment. In doing so, they risked being cited, indicted and tried for contempt of Congress. One month later, the full House of Representatives cited them for contempt. The Hollywood Ten were members of the Communist Party, but they felt that the Supreme Court would defend their rights and overturn the ruling of Congress. That did not happen.
One of the major weapons the Committees used was economic. All those who were brought before the Committees, unless they cooperated, lost their jobs regardless if it was the private sector or other NGOs. The private sector cooperated and supported the Committees in imposing economic sanctions.
The Hollywood Ten were blacklisted and refused employment in the film industry. Hundreds lost their jobs in the broadcasting industry, journalists, teachers, 1,500 sailors and longshoremen, trade unionists, workers with government contractors, industrial workers, postal workers, and even lawyers. It was very difficult to even obtain a lawyer to defend an accused since they were afraid that they would lose their other clients. In some work places, if it was discovered that a person was accused or went before a Committee, a Run Out was organized to chase the worker out of his or her job. Academia also suffered as professors were dismissed. Many sought refuge in Black Colleges in the South where those institutions were desperate for staff.
The entire American political system lost its balance, and governance degenerated to the lowest possible level. The Framers of the Constitution had the foresight to establish checks and balances to prevent any one Branch of Government to abuse power. But it was clear that the men in the Executive Branch and the Legislative Branch of Government "fell-down" abysmally. One would have thought that since the politicians failed then the Judiciary and the Courts would rescue the Constitution and restore balance and justice in the political system. But the judges played to the political gallery just like the politicians.
THE JUDICIARY AND THE COURTS
The Hollywood Ten had hoped that the Supreme Court would rule on their invocation of the first Amendment and overturn Congresss ruling. The Supreme Court refused to hear their case for two years. Finally, they met and upheld the Lower Courts decisions and confirmed the convictions. The majority of the Justices were not prepared to go against popular sympathies which were in tune with the Congressional Committees. The Court invoked the concept of Judicial Restraint and argued that the Congress represented the will of the people and the Court would not overrule the policies of another Branch of Government. In the words of Justice Robert Jackson in 1949: "It would be an unwarranted act of judicial usurpation to strip Congress of its investigative power to assume for the Courts, the function of supervising Congressional Committees."
The Hollywood Ten moved to invoke another provision in the Constitution, the Fifth Amendment. The Fifth defended the privilege that one does not have to testify against oneself. The issue once more took a few years to be heard by the Supreme Court when it was upheld that witnesses were entitled to enjoy the privilege against self-incrimination. The Court, however, did not extend the privilege to witnesses who did not name names. In Senator McCarthys words: "A witnesss refusal to answer whether he is a communist on the ground that hi