Anyone with knowledge of the “Occupy” protests and the Arab Spring can attest to the power of youth in leading social change. The Chicago Seven were all of college age, but found studying unappealing when the country was losing hundreds in Vietnam daily, and slaughtering many more. The conspirators decided to make their voice heard at the 1968 Democratic Nation Convention that was meeting in Chicago – a crowd of 15,000 showed up, met by riot police.

On this day, February 18, in 1970, the leaders of the movement (insofar as it had any leaders at all), were put on trial for crossing state lines with the intent to cause a riot. They were found not guilty. That verdict was reversed, on appeal, by the Seventh Circuit court, but no fines and prison time was handed down to the defendants.

Two of the Chicago Seven were leaders of their own brand of political party, founded on rebellion through absurdism. For Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, two of the Seven, their new status as defendants did not temper their attitude one bit: the two decided one day to show up at court wearing judicial robes. When the judge ordered them to remove the robes, the two complied, revealing police uniforms underneath. The press and television covering the trial ate it up.