 The trial opened on November 1 , 1948 , and preliminary proceedings and jury selection lasted until January 17 , 1949 ; the defendants first appeared in court on March 7 , and the case concluded on October 14 , 1949 . Although later trials surpassed it , in 1949 it was the longest federal trial in US history . The trial was one of the country 's most contentious legal proceedings and sometimes had a " circus @-@ like atmosphere " . Four hundred police officers were assigned to the site on the opening day of the trial . Magazines , newspapers , and radio reported on the case heavily ; Time magazine featured the trial on its cover twice with stories titled " Communists : The Presence of Evil " and " Communists : The Little Commissar " ( referring to Eugene Dennis ) . 
