County D.A. May Prosecute Furry Under Oath Law

Middlesex County District Attorney George H. Thompson may soon prosecute Wendell H. Furry, associate professor of Physics, probably under the Massachusetts Teachers Oath law, it was learned last night.

Earlier in the day a Boston paper reported that William H. Teto, FBI counterspy, had given Thompson the names of at least two professors in Greater Boston colleges as Communists and that Thompson intended to prosecute them. The paper also reported that Teto has been secretly working with Thompson for more than a year in a probe of subversive teachers in local colleges.

Began Probes Last Week

The District Attorney's office began an investigation into violations of the teacher's oath in Boston schools and colleges about a week ago. At that time Thompson named Furry, Helen Dean Markham, assistant professor of Anatomy, and Leon J. Kamin, research associate in Social Relations, as the targets of the probe at the University.

Thompson's inquiry was originally begun after Thomas Dorgan, clerk of the Suffolk Superior Court, wrote him a letter demanding that infractions of the oath be looked into.

Contacted last night, Thompson's chief assistant said that considerable information had been gathered in the probe, but refused to say whether there was enough conclusive evidence to begin prosecution against any of the three.

The Teachers Oath, passed in 1935, requires teachers in universities and schools in Massachusetts to swear to defend and protect the constitution of the United States and the Commonwealth. A penalty of $1,000 for violation was added in 1948.

There is a considerable legal question as to whether Furry can be prosecuted under the oath. Furry signed the oath in 1934, and according to the Corporation's statement of last spring joined the party in 1938, quitting in 1947. There is some doubt among lawyers as to whether the oath is promissory, holding him in 1938 to something he said in 1934. It also seems that the penalty would be ex post facto in this case since he quit the party a year before it was added.