Macomb Bar To Discuss Local Ties To The Fall Of McCarthyism

By Edward Cardenas

SHELBY TOWNSHIP (CBS Detroit) - The Macomb Bar Foundation will bring one of the key players in a court case that led to the demise of McCarthyism to the organization's History Book Club meeting Thursday at Barnes & Noble in Shelby Township.

The club's selection for May is "To Strike at a King," a book by Michael Ranville on the 1953 case of Air Force Lt. Milo Radulovich, a Michigan native, who was stripped of his commission for refusing to denounce his father and sister who were accused of "subversive activities."

Retired Macomb County Judge Ken Sanborn, then a young lawyer, was one of the attorneys who represented Radulovich. The case became a national story covered by Edward R. Murrow and was eventually overturned. The case, and the media coverage, is credited with leading to the downfall of McCarthyism.

Sanborn will join the author of the book to discuss his involvement with the case, which was made into a movie, "Good Night and Good Luck," which starred George Clooney.

Sanborn and Radulovich were reunited in 2006 as part of the Centennial Celebration of the Macomb County Bar Association. This reunion came just one year before Radulovich died.

The event which starts at 7:15 p.m. Thursday, is free and open to the public.