In an 8-1 decision last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington struck a hard blow at the U.S. Department of Justice's celebrated case against Far East Expert Owen Lattimore. The court upheld District Judge Luther W. Youngdahl's dismissal of the key count in a perjury indictment against the former State Department consultant. Said the court: the charge that Lattimore lied when he told the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee that he was not a "sympathizer" or "promoter" of Communism was "void for vagueness"; the indictment should have defined its terms.
By the same vote, the court also upheld Youngdahl's...