The Law: Too Prominent to Be Relevant

Over and over, the seven defendants on trial for conspiring to incite a riot during the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago have accused Judge Julius J. Hoffman of interpreting trial rules to favor the prosecution. Hoffman's rulings have earned him a sardonic New Left label: "Julius the Just." Last month he refused to let Chicago Mayor Richard Daley tell the jury much more than his name. Last week Hoffman kept another defense witness from testifying at all.

The witness was no less an expert than former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, who closely observed the security arrangements for the convention and tried...

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