Sherman H. Skolnick (July 13, 1930 – May 21, 2006) was a Chicago-based activist and conspiracy theorist.[1][2][3]

Sherman H. Skolnick
BornJuly 13, 1930
Chicago, Illinois, US
DiedMay 21, 2006 (aged 75)
Chicago, Illinois, US
Occupation(s)Author and investigative journalist

Early life edit

Born in Chicago in 1930, at the age of six, Skolnick was paralyzed by polio, and he used a wheelchair for the rest of his life.[4] His parents, a homemaker and a tailor, were Jewish European immigrants.[4] Skolnick's father was from Russia.[5]

Career edit

Skolnick was founder and chairman of the Citizens' Committee to Clean Up the Courts,[4] which he started in 1963. He used the local press to distribute his reports, later establishing a telephone hotline–"Hotline News", a public-access television show on cable TV, and a web site.[4]

Skolnick's investigations put Otto Kerner Jr. in prison for three years; and led to the resignation of two Illinois Supreme Court justices, Roy J. Solfisburg, Jr. and Ray Klingbiel, who, as Skolnick reported, had accepted bribes of stock from a defendant in a case on which they ruled.[4] The scandal catapulted John Paul Stevens, special counsel to an investigating commission, to fame as a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.[6] In 2001, the story became the subject of a book, Illinois Justice, by Kenneth A. Manaster.[6] His investigations also revealed corruption at the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI).

Skolnick's final written works include an 81-part series entitled "The Overthrow of the American Republic," and a 16-part series entitled "Coca-Cola, the CIA, and the Courts."[4]

Later life and death edit

Skolnick died of a heart attack on May 21, 2006.[4]

Publications edit

Articles edit

Books edit

  • Ahead of the Parade: A Who's Who of Treason and High Crimes – Exclusive Details of Fraud and Corruption of the Monopoly Press, the Banks, the Bench and the Bar, and the Secret Political Police. Dandelion Books (2003). ISBN 9781893302327.
  • Overthrow of the American Republic: Writings of Sherman H. Skolnick. Dandelion Books (2007). ISBN 1893302229, 978-1893302228.

References edit

  1. ^ Fenster, Mark (1999). Conspiracy Theories: Secrecy and Power in American Culture. Minneapolis, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press. p. 84. ISBN 9780816632428. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
  2. ^ Kellner, Douglas (2003). Media Spectacle. London: Routledge. p. 120. ISBN 9781134493951. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
  3. ^ Smith, Christopher E. (2011). "John Paul Stevens: A Liberal Leader & His Roles on the Court". In Smith, Christopher E.; DeJong, Christina; McCall, Michael A. (eds.). The Rehnquist Court and Criminal Justice. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. p. 128. ISBN 9780739140826. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Noel, Josh (May 23, 2006). "Sherman Skolnick". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  5. ^ "Judges: Skolnick's Guerrilla War". Time. August 29, 1969. Archived from the original on October 25, 2007.
  6. ^ a b Patten, Joseph N. (2003–2004). "Review of Illinois Justice: The Scandal of 1969 and the Rise of John Paul Stevens" (PDF). Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture. 10 (3): 233–237.

External links edit