Abraham J. Isserman
| Abraham J. Isserman | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Abraham J. Isserman May 11, 1900 Belgium |
| Died | April 22, 1988 (aged 87) New York, New York |
| Cause of death | Stroke |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | A.J. Isserman, Abraham Isserman, Abe Isserman |
| Occupation | Labor lawyer |
| Known for | Defended Gerhart Eisler (1947) and CPUSA leaders in Foley Square trial (1949) |
| Children | Harold Isserman |
| Relatives | Maurice Isserman (nephew) |
Abraham J. Isserman (May 11, 1900 – April 22, 1988) was an American lawyer and activist who defended Gerhart Eisler in 1947 and CPUSA leaders in the Foley Square trial (1949): he was found in contempt of court by Judge Harold Medina, sentenced to four months in jail (1952), and disbarred.
Isserman was born on May 11, 1900, in Belgium.
Abraham J. Isserman and Morris Isserman were private attorneys at Isserman & Isserman, 24 Commerce Street, Newark, New Jersey.
His clients included Edith Berkman, the New Jersey chapter of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, and the union called the American Newspaper Guild.
In the 1930s through 1941, he served as counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union.
Isserman was a member of the Communist Party and identified by the Federal government as one of several "communist lawyers."
In 1939, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) reported that Isserman was a member of the national committee of the International Juridical Association, a communist-leaning group co-founded by Carol Weiss King and Shad Polier among others.
In 1939, ACLU chief Roger Nash Baldwin asked Isserman to prepare a legal brief on whether witnesses could invoke the Fifth Amendment to help witnesses called before the Dies Committee (predecessor to HUAC).
In April 1943, Walter Gellhorn, then New York Regional Attorney and Assistant General Counsel (later professor of law at Columbia University, also brother of photographer Martha Gellhorn) testified before HUAC as follows:
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