When the Pentagon Papers appeared in newspapers around the United States last June, Samuel L. Popkin, assistant professor of Government, was about 8000 miles away, in Hong Kong. The study, he said later, "certainly did not light bulbs and ring bells in my head."

The fact that Popkin was a Vietnam scholar and had worked with Daniel Ellsberg '52 at MIT did light bulbs and ring bells in the heads of government investigators, however. And when a grand jury was empanelled in Boston to probe possible Pentagon Paper-related crimes in Massachusetts, Popkin found himself on its list.

So it was that on August 19, 1971, Sam Popkin received his first subpoena from the grand jury, beginning a long ride on a legal merry-go-round. That subpoena eventually opened not only the personal question of what relevance Popkin's "testimony" had on the investigation, but also the broader legal question of whether a scholar has the same right as a journalist to protect his confidential sources.

Not surprisingly, the first subpoena was greeted with displeasure by Popkin and, represented by attorneys William P. Homans Jr. '41 and Daniel Klubock, he filed a motion to have the order quashed and moved that the government be required to reveal any intercepted wire communications, (i.e., wire tapping). Both motions were denied, but Popkin was not required to testify at that time.

About two months later, Popkin was subpoenaed again. Appearing before the grand jury on October 14, he answered some of the questions put to him but refused to answer others. The grand jury excused Popkin temporarily, only to recall him on October 29.

At that point, Popkin filed a motion for a protective order, with affidavits from several Harvard colleagues, asking that he not be required to answer questions dealing with "information obtained by him in his capacity as a scholar, author and teacher" and that he not be made to reveal his confidential sources. That motion was also denied.

But at the October 29 hearing, the government had apparently not yet established within its own ranks its intention to probe Popkin for other possible sources of information. "We are not interested in exposing or compromising miscellaneous sources of information which Mr. Popkin may rely upon in his research and in his writing," Assistant U. S. Attorney Warren P. Reese told Judge W. Arthur Garrity of Boston's Federal District Court. "We are concerned with illegal activity involving the acquisition and dissemination of government documents, and that limits the subject matter of our inquiry."

Later in the investigation, however, the government would be asking Popkin not only whom he knew had possessed the Pentagon Papers in Massachusetts prior to their publication--he replied he knew no one--but also whom he had interviewed in the course of his research who had led him to form an opinion on who may have possessed the papers.

The government said it was not considering this type of question on October 29, and it moved for immunity for Popkin. The court granted that motion, and ordered that Popkin "appear forthwith before the grand jury and testify and produce evidence with respect to all matters under inquiry by the grand jury." Popkin followed the order, appeared before the grand jury and was again excused temporarily.

Subpoenaed again on January 18, Popkin asked for a clarification by the court on whether prior rulings applied to the new order to appear, and simultaneously sought a protective order. The court refused to hear the motions.

And so it was back to the grand jury room on the 11th floor of the dank federal building in Boston's Post Office Square, where Popkin appeared before the jury once again, but refused to answer three of its questions. At that point, a few doors down the hall, the government decided to move for the first time to have Popkin found in contempt of court.

In response to that action, the Harvard Faculty Council passed unanimously on January 19 the first public statement of support for Popkin's position to be issued by any official body of the University.

In a resolution introduced by James Q. Wilson, chairman of the Government Department, the Council stated that "an unlimited right of grand juries to ask any question and to expose a witness to citations for contempt could easily threaten scholarly research."

It added that "when questioning a scholar about matters connected with his research, the government should demonstrate a strong need for having the questions answered. Without such a demonstration or a showing that the questions relate to the scholar's own participation or direct involvement in the commission of a crime, a scholar should be permitted to refuse to answer questions about his contacts and sources."

There the matter stood for two months until, on March 21, the court found Popkin in contempt and, at the same time, provided the clarification that he had earlier requested. Popkin offered in court to answer the three specific questions the grand jury had posed in the January hearing, but refused to answer further inquiries.