Editing Abbie Hoffman (section)

=== Chicago Seven conspiracy trial ===
{{Main|Chicago Seven}}

Hoffman was a member of a group of defendants that became known as the [[Chicago Seven]] (originally known as the Chicago Eight), which included fellow Yippie [[Jerry Rubin]], [[David Dellinger]], [[Rennie Davis]], [[John Froines]], [[Lee Weiner]], [[Tom Hayden]], and [[Bobby Seale]] (before his trial was severed from the others), who were charged by the United States federal government with conspiracy, crossing state lines with intent to incite a riot, and other charges related to anti-[[Vietnam War]] and [[Counterculture of the 1960s|countercultural]] protests in Chicago, Illinois during the [[1968 Democratic National Convention]].

Presided over by Judge [[Julius Hoffman]] (no relation to Hoffman, about which he joked throughout the trial<ref>{{cite web |first=Kirsten |last=Pauli |url=http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/chicago7/hoffmanj.html |title=Judge Julius Hoffman |publisher=[[University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law]] |access-date=December 4, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101211131748/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/Chicago7/hoffmanj.html |archive-date=December 11, 2010 }}</ref>), Abbie Hoffman's courtroom antics frequently grabbed the headlines; one day, defendants Hoffman and Rubin appeared in court dressed in judicial robes, while on another day, Hoffman was sworn in as a witness with his hand giving [[finger (gesture)|the finger]]. Judge Hoffman became the favorite courtroom target of the Chicago Seven defendants, who frequently would insult the judge to his face.<ref name="Shonde">{{cite news |title=Judge Hoffman Is Taunted at Trial of the Chicago 7 After Silencing Defense Counsel |first=J. Anthony |last=Lukas |date=February 6, 1970 |work=[[The New York Times]] (paid access) |url=https://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F60716F6355B157493C4A91789D85F448785F9 |access-date=October 7, 2008 |archive-date=May 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200512004832/https://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F60716F6355B157493C4A91789D85F448785F9 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Abbie Hoffman told Judge Hoffman "you are a ''[[A shande far di goyim|shande fur de goyim]]'' [disgrace in front of the gentiles]. You would have served [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] better." He later added that "your idea of justice is the only obscenity in the room."<ref name="Shonde" /> Both Davis and Rubin told the judge, "This court is bullshit." When Hoffman was asked in what state he resided, he replied the "state of mind of my brothers and sisters."

Other celebrities were called as "cultural witnesses" including [[Allen Ginsberg]], [[Phil Ochs]], [[Arlo Guthrie]], [[Judy Collins]], [[Norman Mailer]] and others. Hoffman closed the trial with a speech in which he quoted [[Abraham Lincoln]], making the claim that the president himself, were he alive today, would also have been arrested in Chicago's Lincoln Park.

On February 18, 1970, Hoffman and four of the other defendants (Rubin, Dellinger, Davis, and Hayden) were found guilty of intent to incite a riot while crossing state lines. All seven defendants were found not guilty of conspiracy. At sentencing, Hoffman suggested the judge try [[Lysergic acid diethylamide|LSD]] and offered to set him up with "a dealer he knew in Florida." (The judge was known to be headed to Florida for a post-trial vacation.) Each of the five was sentenced to five years in prison and given a $5,000 fine ({{Inflation|US|5000|1970|r=-3|fmt=eq}}).<ref>{{cite web|last=Linder|first= Douglas O. |url=http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/Chicago7/Account.html |title=The Chicago Seven Conspiracy Trial| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061205224938/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/Chicago7/Account.html |archive-date=December 5, 2006 |publisher=UMKC School of Law|access-date=October 23, 2008}} This article gives a detailed description of the trial, the events leading up to it, the reversal on appeal and the aftermath.</ref>

However, all convictions were subsequently overturned by the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit|Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals]].