Editing Learned Hand (section)

====''Coplon'', ''Dennis'', and ''Remington'' cases====
During this period, Hand took part in three cases that posed a particular challenge to his impartiality on Cold War issues: ''[[United States v. Coplon]]'', ''[[Dennis v. United States]]'', and ''[[United States v. Remington]]''.<ref>''United States v. Coplon'', 185 F.2d 629 (2d Cir. 1950); ''[[Dennis v. United States]]'', 183 F.2d. 201 (2d Cir. 1950); ''United States v. Remington'', 208 F.2d. 567 (2d Cir. 1950)</ref>

[[File:FBI arrests Judith Coplon, March 4, 1949.jpg|thumb|left|upright|The [[FBI]] arrested [[Judith Coplon]] on March 4, 1949.]]

[[United States Department of Justice|Department of Justice]] worker [[Judith Coplon]] had been sentenced to 15 years in prison for stealing and attempting to pass on [[Defense (military)|defense]] information. In 1950, her appeal came before a Second Circuit panel that included Learned Hand. It rested on her claim that her rights under the [[Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourth Amendment]] had been infringed by a [[search warrant|warrantless search]], and that details of illegal [[wiretaps]] had not been fully disclosed at trial. Although Hand was unambiguous in his view Coplon had been guilty of the charges against her, he nonetheless rejected the trial judge's conclusion that a warrantless arrest had been justified. He ruled therefore that papers seized during the arrest had been inadmissible as evidence.<ref>{{Harvnb|Gunther|1994|pp=592–597}}</ref> The trial judge's failure to disclose all the wiretap records, Hand concluded, necessitated a reversal of Coplon's conviction. In his [[Legal opinion|opinion]], Hand wrote: "[F]ew weapons in the arsenal of freedom are more useful than the power to compel a government to disclose the evidence on which it seeks to forfeit the liberty of its citizens."<ref>{{Harvnb|Gunther|1994|p=596}}; {{Harvnb|Griffith|1973|p=37}}</ref> Hand received [[hate mail]] after this decision.

[[File:DennisEugene.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.75|[[Eugene Dennis]] mugshot, 1948]]

Hand's position in the 1950 case ''Dennis v. United States'' contrasted sharply with his ''Coplon'' opinion. In ''Dennis'', Hand affirmed the convictions under the 1940 [[Smith Act]] of eleven leaders of the [[Communist Party of the United States]] for subversion. He ruled that calls for the violent overthrow of the American government posed enough of a "probable danger" to justify the invasion of free speech.<ref>{{Harvnb|Schick|1970|pp=176–181}}; {{Harvnb|Griffith|1973|pp=150–152}}; {{Harvnb|Irons|1999|pp=379–380}}</ref> After the ruling, he was attacked from the other political direction for appearing to side with McCarthyism.<ref>{{Harvnb|Gunther|1994|pp=598–599}}</ref>

In 1953, Hand wrote a scathing dissent from a Second Circuit decision affirming the [[perjury]] conviction of [[William Remington]], a government economist accused of Communist sympathies and activities. In 1951, the same panel had originally overturned Remington's conviction for perjury. Rather than [[New trial|retrying]] Remington on their original perjury charges, the government instead brought new perjury charges based on his testimony at the first trial. He was convicted of two charges. In the latter appeal, Hand was outvoted two to one. The prosecution produced stronger evidence against Remington at the second trial, much of it obtained from his wife. Sentenced to three years' imprisonment, Remington was murdered in November 1954 by two fellow inmates, who beat him over the head with a brick wrapped in a sock. According to Hand's biographer Gunther, "The image of Remington being bludgeoned to death in prison haunted Hand for the rest of his life."<ref>{{Harvnb|Gunther|1994|pp=624–625}}; {{Harvnb|Stone|2004|p=369}}</ref>