Sweezy Asks Court For New Hearing of Contempt Conviction

Paul M. Sweezy '31, former instructor in Economics here, had petitioned the New Hampshire Supreme Court for a rehearing of his March 7 contempt conviction. If the petition is refused, Sweezy plans to appeal the decision to the United States Supreme Court.

Sweezy was convicted of contempt for refusing to answer questions concerning a lecture on socialism which he delivered at the University of New Hampshire in 1954.

Asserting that he was not and never had been a Communist, he said that questions about his lecture violated his rights to freedom of speech under the First Amendment. He at no time invoked either the Fifth or the Fifteenth Amendments.

Sweezy had spoken on socialism at U.N.H. for the preeceding two years and was expected to return annually. Since the investigation, however, the University has not invited him back.