Legal Definitions - McCarran Act

The McCarran Act, also known as the McCarran Internal Security Act or the Subversive Activities Control Act of 1950, was a federal law enacted in the United States during the Cold War era. Its primary purpose was to identify and monitor individuals and organizations perceived as a threat to national security due to their association with communism. The Act specifically mandated that members of the Communist Party register with the U.S. Attorney General and required organizations deemed "Communist" to provide the government with a list of their members. Although passed in 1950, various provisions of the McCarran Act were later challenged and declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, and the law was eventually repealed in its entirety in 1993.

Here are some examples illustrating the McCarran Act:

• Imagine a university professor in the early 1950s who was a known member of the Communist Party. Under the McCarran Act, this professor would have been legally obligated to register their affiliation with the U.S. Attorney General. Failure to comply could have resulted in legal penalties, even if their activities were entirely academic or related to political speech, demonstrating how the Act directly targeted individuals based on their political association.

• Consider a prominent labor union during the 1950s that was suspected by government agencies of having significant Communist influence among its leadership. If this union were officially designated as a "Communist organization" under the McCarran Act, it would have been compelled to submit a complete roster of all its members to the government. This requirement aimed to expose and track individuals associated with groups perceived as subversive, illustrating the Act's impact on organizational privacy and freedom of association.

• Picture a group of civil rights activists in the 1960s who, while not necessarily Communist, were targeted by the government under the broad scope of the McCarran Act due to their perceived radical views. If ordered to register or provide member lists, these activists might have refused, arguing that such demands violated their First Amendment rights to free speech and association. Such refusals often led to legal challenges that ultimately contributed to the U.S. Supreme Court striking down various parts of the Act, highlighting the constitutional conflicts it generated.