Today in Supreme Court History: August 4

Truong Dinh Hung v. United States, 439 U.S. 1326 (decided August 4, 1978): Brennan, reversing Circuit Court, allows bail pending appeal of espionage conviction (passing along government secrets, theft of government property, acting as unregistered foreign agent) (this was in connection with Carter’s negotiations with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on normalization of relations, return of prisoners, etc.); defendant, Vietnamese citizen, did not have permanent residence in U.S. and was in contact with Vietnamese ambassador in Paris, but Brennan notes “opportunity” to flee does not equal “inclination” to flee; defendant had resided here for 13 years, was close to his sister, a permanent resident who owned a house here, and “numerous affidavits” attested to his character and “reliability as a bail risk”. (Convictions were affirmed on full appeal in 1981, and cert denied. Truong was paroled in 1986, married an American college professor, and moved to the Netherlands, working as an economist for the EU.)