had been raised in the courtroom.
As he greeted colleagues, students, and followers in the courthouse corridors, he
appeared very much the leader still. He said something reassuring to McCullough, who
looked very depressed after the verdict. During the trial, Reich had awarded McCullough a
$250 “Oranur prize” for the best orgonomic paper of the year by a student (“The Rocky
Road to Functionalism”). He was quick to show his opinion of those around him. He criti-
cized one colleague for a recent book review: “You were too nice to the enemy.” Another
author received warm praise. And the obnoxious, bullying side of his personality was still in
evidence. When approached by one follower with a pale gray complexion, Reich commented
angrily, “You look DOR-ish,” as though the person had committed a crime.
After the verdict, Reich did something unusual for him: he approached persons he
thought were friends but whom he didn’t know. In one instance, he went up to a follower
from New York, shook hands with him, and asked him if he were “one of ...” and made a
circle with his hand, as if there were no quite appropriate word (“group,” “circle,” both were
inadequate and carried connotations Reich detested). The person, rather shy, said “sort of,”
and Reich answered, “I know ... sort of ... kind of ...” with a mixture of sweetness and irony.
My last image of Reich on the day of the verdict was of him packing his papers into
several briefcases,looking determined and much less depressed and helpless than most of his
followers.
The day of Reich’s sentencing broke fair, cold and dry. The Boston Weather Bureau
reported that the night before was the coldest on record for that date. But only the weather
was unusual. Few persons noted or even knew that this was the day of sentencing. The news-
papers had nothing about it, hardly anyone outside the little circle of followers talked about
it.
One entered the Portland courtroom at 10:00 A.M. to see the characters seated in
their usual places.Everyone looked almost the same as when the curtain rang down on the
trial itself. Only Peter Mills was different, paler, more fatigued. The judge, pink and unsmil-
ing,entered as usual a little later than everyone else. He asked the government for its recom-
mendations. Maguire rose and declared: Three years sentence for each of the two defendants,
a fine of$50,000 for the Wilhelm Reich Foundation (equal to the amount of income from
the accumulators since the injunction in March 1954), and legal costs.
Before one knew what had happened, the judge in an unusually low voice for him
had passed sentence:two years prison for Reich, one year for Silvert, $10,000 fine for the
Foundation. Everyone was stunned: such severity had never been foreseen. A few in the audi-
ence cried,but most looked impassive with God knows what inward feelings. Reich’s expres-
sion hardly flickered. Only afterward could one perceive reflected in his face some bottom-
lessly deep hurt, but this was not revealed through any of the usual emotional signs. There
were no tears, no signs of depression, fear, or guilt.
Reich did not say anything then or at any point during the session. Prior to sentenc-
ing, he handed Judge Sweeney a statement which the judge read aloud afterward:
30 : The Trial: 1956 421