Joint Legislative Committee to Investigate Seditious Activities

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The Joint Legislative Committee to Investigate Seditious Activities, popularly known as the Lusk Committee, was formed to investigate individuals and organizations in New York State suspected of sedition.

In 1919, the New York State Legislature established the Joint Legislative Committee to Investigate Seditious Activities (Concurrent Resolution, March 26, 1919) under the criminal anarchy articles of the State's Penal Code. The committee was chaired by State Senator Clayton R. Lusk of Cortland County.

With the exception of a minor case, this was the first time that these statutes had been implemented since their enactment in 1902 following the assassination of United States President William McKinley by an anarchist in Buffalo, New York.

The committee spent over a year gathering information on suspected radical groups by raiding offices and examining documents, infiltrating meetings, assisting law enforcement agents in the arrest of thousands, and subpoenaing witnesses for the committee's hearings. The investigation generated nationwide publicity and contributed to a repressive attitude that led to the expulsion of five Socialist members from the New York State Assembly and the prosecution of a number of individuals. The committee's investigation officially ended when it submitted its final report with recommendations to the legislature in April 1920.

[edit] References

The Lusk Committee: A Guide to the Records of the Joint Legislative Committee to Investigate Seditious Activities A guide to the Records Held in the New York State Archives