Free Republic

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) - John McTernan, an activist lawyer who fought landmark civil rights and labor cases and defended witnesses summoned by the House Un-American Activities Committee, has died. He was 94. McTernan died March 28 in his sleep at his Santa Monica home, his family told the Los Angeles Times. He argued several times before the U.S. Supreme Court on the constitutionality of government policies during the Cold War such as forcing workers to take loyalty oaths. One of his most important cases came in 1957. The Supreme Court concluded that defendants have the right to know about...