View source for James Lawrence Fly

{{short description|American lawyer}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name               = James Lawrence Fly
|office             = [[Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission]]
|image=James L Fly 1939-11-29.jpg
|predecessor        = [[Frank R. McNinch]]
|president          = [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]
|successor          = [[Ewell K. Jett]]
|office2            = Chairman, Defense Communications Board
|predecessor2       = office created
|party              = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
|successor2         = Ewell K. Jett
|birth_date         = February 22, 1898
|birth_place        = [[Dallas County, Texas]]
|death_date         = {{death-date and age|January 6, 1966|February 22, 1898}}
|death_place        = [[Daytona Beach, Florida]]
|spouse             = Mildred Marvin Jones
|children           = James Lawrence Fly, Jr., and Sara Virginia Fly
|alma_mater         = [[United States Naval Academy]], [[Harvard Law School]]
|occupation         = lawyer
<!--Military service-->
|branch             = [[United States Navy]]
|serviceyears       = 1920–1923
|term_start         = September 1, 1939
|term_end           = November 13, 1944
|term_start2        = September 24, 1940
|term_end2          = November 13, 1944
}}
[[File:FCC Commissioners inspect latest in television 1939.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]] Commissioners [[Frederick I. Thompson]], [[T.A.M. Craven]], Chairman James Lawrence Fly, Commissioners [[Thad H. Brown]], and [[Norman S. Case]], left to right, inspect the latest in television, December 1, 1939.]]
'''James Lawrence "Larry" Fly''' (February 22, 1898 – January 6, 1966) was an American [[lawyer]], famous as chairman of the [[Federal Communications Commission]] and, later, director of the [[American Civil Liberties Union]].<ref name="Edwardson1">{{cite journal|last=Edwardson |first=Mickie |date=January 1, 1999 |title=James Lawrence Fly, the FBI, and wiretapping. |journal=[[The Historian (journal)|The Historian]] |publisher=[[Blackwell Publishing]] |volume=61 |issue=2 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-6563.1999.tb01031.x |pages=361–382 |url=https://spybusters.com/History_1939-54_Fly.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090814131215/http://spybusters.com/History_1939-54_Fly.html |archive-date=August 14, 2009 }}</ref> He helped inaugurate standards for commercial television broadcasting, and vigorously opposed [[wiretapping]] throughout his career.
==Early life==
Fly grew up in [[Texas]] and graduated from [[North Dallas High School]] in 1916. He then graduated from the [[United States Naval Academy]] before serving three years in the [[United States Navy]]. He resigned to earn a law degree from [[Harvard Law School]]. After a short time in private practice, Fly took a position prosecuting [[antitrust]] cases for the government. He joined the [[Tennessee Valley Authority]] in 1934, rising from solicitor general to general counsel.<ref name="zarkin2006">Zarkin, Michael J. (2006). ''The Federal Communications Commission.'' Greenwood Publishing Group, {{ISBN|978-0-313-33416-0}}</ref>  Fly married Mildred Marvin Jones in 1923, with whom he had two children, James Lawrence, Jr., and Sara Virginia.<ref>{{cite journal | title = We Pay Our Respects To— James Lawrence Fly | journal = [[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting and Broadcast Advertising]] | date = December 15, 1941 | page = 39 | volume = 21 | issue = 24 | publisher = Broadcasting Publications, Inc. | location = Washington, D.C.}}</ref>
==FCC chairmanship==
When Fly was appointed to replace [[Frank McNinch]] as FCC chairman in 1939, [[commercial television]] had not yet begun in the U.S. In April of that year, [[RCA]] attempted to broadcast commercial content in [[New York City]] using standards set by the [[Radio Manufacturers Association]] (now the [[Electronic Industries Alliance]]), but these broadcasts were unauthorized and experimental.<ref name=SMPTE>[[Donald G. Fink]], [http://www.ntsc-tv.com/ntsc-main-01.htm The Forces at Work Behind the NTSC Standards], a paper presented at the 122nd annual SMPTE Technical Conference, November 9–14, 1980, New York, N.Y.</ref> In December 1939 the FCC announced it would authorize limited commercial broadcasts, but it was not clear what standards should be used. By early 1940 RCA made aggressive moves to dominate the industry, and many of their competitors objected.<ref name="Edwardson2">{{cite journal|last=Edwardson|first=Mickie|date=July 1, 1999|title=James Lawrence Fly v. David Sarnoff: Blitzkrieg Over Television|journal=Journalism History|publisher=Greenspun School of Communication|volume=25|issue=3|pages=42–52|doi=10.1080/00947679.1999.12062510|issn=0094-7679|url=https://www.questia.com/read/1P3-44787374}}</ref> The FCC halted all commercial broadcasts, and insisting that the [[television industry]] as a whole develop standards before broadcasting continue.<ref name=SMPTE/> To break this impasse, Fly urged [[Walter R. G. Baker]] to found the National Television System Committee, or [[NTSC]], and negotiations were soon reached. This became the model that the FCC has used repeatedly when developing new standards for nascent technologies.<ref name="Edwardson2"/>
As chairman of the FCC, Fly became the ''ex officio'' chairman of the Defense Communications Board, later the Board of War Communications, when it was created by President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] in September 1940.
That same month, [[J. Edgar Hoover]] of the [[FBI]] asked the FCC to [[wiretap]] all communications to and from [[Axis powers]] and the United States, despite the fact that wiretapping had been outlawed by Section 605 of the [[Communications Act of 1934]], and Fly refused to comply.<ref name="Edwardson1"/><ref>James Lawrence Fly, "Threat to Liberty, Defiance of Law Seen in FBI Wire-Tapping," [[Washington Post]], January 7, 1950, sec. A, p. 9.</ref> Fly wrote a letter to President Roosevelt explaining his lack of cooperation.<ref>Fly to Roosevelt, March 27, 1941, from the personal collection of James Lawrence Fly, Jr.</ref>  Roosevelt renominated Fly to a new seven-year term of office beginning July 1, 1942; Fly's appointment was confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate on June 29 of that year.<ref>{{cite journal | title = Chairman Fly Is Sworn For New Term of Office | journal = Broadcasting and Broadcast Advertising | date = July 6, 1942 | page = 12 | volume = 23 | issue = 1}}</ref>
In 1941 [[Sam Hobbs]], [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Representative]] from [[Alabama]], introduced a bill that would legalize wiretapping by the FBI, or any other government agency, if it was suspected that a [[felony]] was occurring.<ref>U.S. House Subcommittee no. 1 of the Committee on the Judiciary, To Authorize Wire Tapping. Hearings on H.R. 2266, H.R. 3099, 77th Cong., 1st sess., 1941, 1, 257</ref> The bill was supported by Attorney General [[Robert H. Jackson]], and seemed likely to pass, until Fly testified against the bill to Congress.<ref>{{cite news|title=House Committee Approval Likely on Wire-Tapping|last=Childs|first=Marquis W.|date=March 18, 1941|work=[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]|pages=3}} Section A.</ref> Due in large part to Fly's testimony, the bill did not pass.<ref name="Edwardson1"/> This testimony garnered Fly national attention, and earned Roosevelt's and Hoover's disapproval.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0913FB3459167B93C2AB178ED85F458485F9|title=Fly of FCC Opposes Wiretapping Power|date=May 20, 1941|work=[[New York Times]]|pages=17|access-date=2009-03-29}}</ref> The FBI conducted wiretaps in contravention of the law, and began to collect a file on Fly.<ref name="Edwardson1"/> Hoover publicly attacked Fly and questioned his loyalty to the United States. In 1943, a House committee investigating the FCC accused Fly of allowing the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] by preventing wiretap legislation.<ref>Congress, House, Select Committee to Investigate the Federal Communications Commission, untitled press release, 78th Cong., 2d sess., 11 July 1943</ref>
Fly left the FCC in November 1944, and opened a private law practice in New York City.<ref>{{cite journal | title = Fly Leaves FCC Nov. 15 to Practice Law | last = Taishoff | first = Sol | journal = Broadcasting and Broadcast Advertising | date = November 6, 1944 | volume = 27 | issue = 19 | page = 13 | quote = Mr. Fly's terse announcement last Thursday confirmed in all particulars the report in ''Broadcasting'' Oct. 9 and in previous issues.  "I am leaving the FCC on Nov. 15 to enter private practice of law in New York City with offices at Suite 1444, 30 Rockefeller Plaza," the Chairman said.}}</ref>  He was replaced as chairman on an interim basis by Commissioner [[E. K. Jett|Ewell K. Jett]], and his seat was ultimately filled by the Democratic National Committee's publicity director, [[Paul A. Porter]], who took over as chairman upon his confirmation.
==Director of the ACLU==
Fly became director of the ACLU in 1946. One of the most celebrated cases under Fly's directorship was the case of [[Judith Coplon]], accused of spying for the [[Soviet Union]]. The trial uncovered extensive wiretapping being conducted illegally by the FBI, and became a major embarrassment for the agency. These wiretaps included conversations between Coplon and her lawyer.<ref name="Edwardson1"/> The bureau then destroyed recordings before the court could hear them, violating further statutes.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,811647,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110131130110/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,811647,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 31, 2011|title=What the FBI Heard|date=January 9, 1950|work=[[Time Magazine]]|pages=12|access-date=2009-03-29}}</ref> Coplon was convicted, but the case was appealed to the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit]]. Judge [[Learned Hand]] conceded that "the guilt is plain," but overturned the conviction due to the evidence collected through illegal methods, as well as other misconduct, including the fact that Coplon had been arrested without a [[Arrest warrant|warrant]].<ref>[http://cases.justia.com/us-court-of-appeals/F2/185/629/50057/ United States v. Coplon], 185 F. 2d 629, 635, 637, 640 (November 2, 1950)</ref>
==Private practice==
In 1949 Fly represented labor leader [[Harry Bridges]], who faced deportation due to accusations that he had lied when saying he had never been a [[Communist]]. This case eventually went before the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] in 1953, which ruled against the government.<ref name="Edwardson1"/> As retribution for this case, Fly faced numerous legal and business difficulties; newspaper columnists questioned his patriotism, and he was named a "concealed Communist" by a loyalty board<ref name="Edwardson1"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Fly Assails Effort 'to Destroy My Character'|date=March 8, 1954|work=[[Miami Herald]]|pages=18}}</ref>
In 1953 Fly debated [[House Majority Leader]] [[Charles A. Halleck]] on the use of wiretaps, on [[Edward R. Murrow]]'s "[[See It Now]]" television program.<ref>Edward R. Murrow, See It Now, television program on CBS network, 1 December 1953, videotape copy at Museum of Television and Radio, New York City.</ref> Fly also wrote numerous print editorials speaking against wiretapping, and testified before a Senate subcommittee about the practice.<ref name="Edwardson1"/>
Fly died of [[cancer]] in [[Daytona Beach, Florida]].<ref name="apobit">[[Associated Press]] (January 7, 1966). James L. Fly Dies; Ex-Head of F.C.C.; Former T.V.A. Counsel Led Commission From '39 to'44.</ref>
==Further reading==
*''America's Battle for Media Democracy: The Triumph of Corporate Libertarianism and the Future of Media Reform'', by [[Victor Pickard (professor)]], Cambridge University Press, 2014 {{ISBN|1107694752}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{S-start}}
{{s-gov}}
{{succession box |
title= [[List of Chairmen of the Federal Communications Commission|Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission]] |
years= 1939&ndash;1944 |
before= [[Frank R. McNinch]] |
after= [[Ewell K. Jett]]
}}
{{succession box |
title= Member of the Federal Communications Commission |
years= 1939&ndash;1944 |
before= [[Frank R. McNinch]] |
after= [[Paul A. Porter]]
}}
{{S-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fly, James Lawrence}}
[[Category:1898 births]]
[[Category:1966 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in Florida]]
[[Category:Chairmen of the Federal Communications Commission]]
[[Category:United States Naval Academy alumni]]
[[Category:Harvard Law School alumni]]
[[Category:United States Navy officers]]
[[Category:American Civil Liberties Union people]]
[[Category:Franklin D. Roosevelt administration personnel]]