United States vs. Thomas E. Watson.

Thomas E. Watson (1856-1922), a lawyer and politician from Thomson, Georgia (McDuffie County), served as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives, a leader in the Southern Farmers' Alliance, and vice-presidential candidate for the Populist Party. After retiring from active politics, Watson published two publications, THE JEFFERSONIAN and WATSON'S MAGAZINE. In reaction to an article Watson wrote for THE JEFFERSONIAN, he was charged with a violation of Section 211 of the Penal Code, "having deposited in the mail certain obscene and filthy publications." These statements were anti-Catholic and anti-prient. Previously, Watson had been tried on this account, but the case ended in a mistrial. In the second trial, which was held in Augusta, Georgia in 1916 and heard by Judge W.W. Lambdin, lasted three days, and the jury found Watson not guilty.