and into that of the court. Presumably, their intent was to protect the public from a “mis-
branded” article, the accumulator. However, the new ruling made it legal for the orgono-
mists to use the accumulator so long as they did not act “in concert” with Reich or the
Foundation. Clearly, the government was less interested in stopping the accumulator than in
stopping Reich personally.
The orgonomists’ case was appealed through higher courts, including the U.S.
Supreme Court. It lost in every hearing. While the first appeal was being heard, Judge
Clifford ruled that the part of the injunction ordering the destruction of publications and
accumulators be delayed until “final determination of the ... appeal ... or ... further order
from this Court.” Reich took heart from this ruling. He notified the court that he intended
to resume all activities. As Baker commented: “A lack of protest from the court he interpret-
ed as consent and, with the passage of time, acquired a false sense of security, even believ-
ing that the case had been won. When reminded that he was only temporarily protected by
the orgonomists’ action, he could not believe it.”^33
How did the world in general react? The response was an intellectual disgrace. First,
there was very little publicity about the injunction itself—brief newspaper or magazine arti-
cles stating that the decree had been passed. There was no outrage about the book-burning
or book-banning provisions ofthe injunction. And from professional organizations came
more than neglect; they rendered the FDA effusive thanks. To give but a few examples:
Dr. Daniel Blain, medical director of the American Psychiatric Association, wrote
the FDA: “We are delighted to hear of the successful prosecution of your action against the
Wilhelm Reich Foundation, and I know that I speak for the profession at large in express-
ing our deep appreciation of the good work of the Food and Drug Administration.”^34
Dr. Richard L. Frank, secretary of the American Psychoanalytic Association,
expressed his appreciation as follows:
...The American Psychoanalytic Association wishes to commend the
Food and Drug Administration for their effective action in this situation.
Dr. Reich and his associates are not members of the American
Psychoanalytic Association and their theories and activities are completely foreign
to all ofour theories and practices.... Unfortunately, we were never in a position to
exercise any control over or to influence his activities in any way^35.Mildred Brady, whose article had triggered the FDA investigation in the first place,
waited until Reich’s trial before she wrote to the FDA: “There is a kind of journalistic excite-
ment in learning that an article you wrote years ago has been instrumental in bearing such
fruit.”^36
Some institutions responded to the iajuction more in relief than in gladness.
Charles L. Dunham of the Atomic Energy Commission wrote in part: “I appreciate very
much your making this [news of the injunction decree] available to me, as you know only
too well what a thorn in the side he [Reich] has been to many of us.”^37
396 Myron SharafFury On Earth