 After the first trial , the prosecutors – encouraged by their success – prosecuted over 100 further CPUSA officers for violating the Smith Act . Some were tried solely because they were members of the Party . Many of these defendants had difficulty finding attorneys to represent them . The trials decimated the leadership of the CPUSA . In 1957 , eight years after the first trial , the US Supreme Court 's Yates decision brought an end to similar prosecutions , holding that defendants could be prosecuted only for their actions , not for their beliefs . 
