Research: Topics: Business & Labor: The Lusk Committee
The Lusk Committee
Results of the Committee's Investigation
The effects of the committee's investigation were short-lived. While the evidence uncovered by the committee led to the prosecution of criminal anarchy cases, of the thousands who were arrested, only a few score were charged, and only a handful convicted or deported, since little incriminating material was found within the thousands of documents seized by the committee. The proposed legislation calling for teacher loyalty oaths and expanded school licensing, though enacted for a two-year period, had little effect. Clayton Lusk was caught in an embarrassing situation in which he accepted expensive silverware from law enforcement officials; he then chose not to run for re-election. And while the committee's evidence assisted in the expulsion of five Socialist members from the Assembly, the public outcry over the expulsions eventually led to denunciation of the committee's work and methods.
