The Early Mark Lane

Fred Litwin
Nov 16, 2025
7 min read

Updated: Nov 17, 2025

*Mark Lane's mugshot from his arrest in Mississippi. See below for further information.*

Here is an article from the May 7, 1962, edition of the New York Post. Mark Lane was trying to win the Reform nomination for the 19th district of New York State for the House of Representatives in D.C.:

Lane would go on and lose this vote.

Here is the report written by the five residents:

Money Quote:

While some newspaper readers have been impressed by Lane's publicity, other readers have had second thoughts aroused by the very frequency of his public pronouncements and the multiplicity of his commitments, and have wonders if this might not point to a zeal for publicity rather than for a passion for justice.

Money Quote:

But this is not all. Mr. Lane adds a further deception. "Mark Lane Story" leaves the impression that Lane was the only lawyer in the case. In actual fact, a majority of the defendants were represented by other lawyers, none of whom advertised his legal defense as an act of unparalleled courage and virtue. Only Mr. Lane has invested it with such an aura.

Money Quote:

After 4 years in East Harlem, Lane left in his wake, not (as Lane to the New York Post) "a solid reputation for community service ... in East Harlem (and) also in Yorkville", but a trail of angry Negro and Puerto Rican people who complain of his indifference, especially after he exploited the newsworthiness of a case. Any number of persons in the very community he represents are scathing in their denunciation of the quality of his legal representation and his preoccupation with self-glorification.

Money Quote:

The last sentence in the above quotation [he advised hundred of tenants in rent cases without fee.] is only one of several variations Lane produces: in "Mark Lane Story", Lane alleges to have not merely advised, but represented "hundreds" of tenants in Easy Harlem, and "over 4 thousand" tenants in Yorkville ... all without fee. He even labels himself "the busiest unpaid lawyer on New York's changing East Side."

We are not told about the quality of his representation. We are not told that most of those tenants were represented through Congressman Alfred E. Santangelo's Congressional office by Lane, who was paid to do so by Santangelo, as part of Lane's duties as an administrative Secretary.

Money Quote:

The man who depicts himself as "lawyer for the underdog" is thus the same man who has so frequently exploited the troubles of his Negro and Puerto Rican clients for their headline publicity value. How many people have taken the trouble to question any of Lane's clients to find out what happened to their cases once they were no longer newsworthy? Lane took advantage of the fact that many of clients were poor and often unaware of the ways and means of seeking restitution.

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What actually did Mr. Lane do in the effort to open city hospital beds for addicts? He made an unsolicited appearance on a picket line which had been organized by the East Harlem Protestant Parish Narcotics Committee. This effort on the part of the Narcotics Committee was the culmination of years of struggle, none of which Mr. Lane contributed to or participated in. In fact, this struggle continues to this very moment, since only the smallest fraction of progress has been made toward opening hospital beds for addicts. But the impression Mr. Lane leaves in the above quotation is that the battle has been won -- his publicity blurbs claim a victory which ironically has not yet been gained.

Money Quote:

He secured wide press coverage as a volunteer attorney for the sit-down demonstrators. The sit-down and subsequent police action became the main focus of the news stories on the following day. After volunteering his services to those "herded into paddy wagons" he later informed them that he personally had arranged to secure their bail. This was simply untrue. It was not Lane who secured their bail. Independently of Lane, it was secured by Mr. Jim Spicer of the Living Theater.

At the time of the hearing before the Judge, Lane antagonized a large number of the defendants by appearing and making what they describe as a political harangue, with the result that a number felt he had seriously jeopardized their case. His conduct in court was seen as a calculated play for headlines. This single appearance was the extent of Lane's "tireless" work on behalf of his clients. They have all since retained other counsel. The result of this episode is that some people identify Lane with the peace issue, not only as "fighter for peace" but as defender of anyone connected with the "fight for peace."

Money Quote:

In the summer of 1961, at a time when thousands of valiant people were struggling in sit-ins and Freedom Rides in the South, Mr. Lane, in a widely heralded excursion took a plane down South, having first given advance notice to the press that he had wired the Attorney General of a projected "Freedom Bud Ride Bus Trip to Montgomery and Jackson, Miss." (NY Post 6/61) Once in the South, Mr. Lane granted interviews and remained long enough to be arrested in the lunchroom of the Jackson, Mississippi airport. At his court appearance at which "everyone, from the Judge down was extremely courteous," (NY Post 8-16-61) Mr. Lane requested the court clerk to speed his appearance before the Judge in order to "fly back for speaking engagements." The request was "politely and ... affably granted, (NY Post 8-16-61) Mr. Lane flew back to New York as a conquering defendant. It is interesting to note that in contrast to the abuse meted out to genuine Freedom Riders, Mr. Lane was offered "every courtesy". (NY Post 6-9-61). This was the quality and extent of his much publicized Freedom Ride.

Money Quote:

There has been no visible continuation of a serious effort for integration in the South on Mr. Lane's part, or participation in the problems remaining in the wake of his quick jaunt. There has been no visible result of his visitation except to endow him in the minds of some with "qualifications" as a Freedom Rider, and to add glitter to his image.

Money Quote:

Apparently Lane did not care to stand behind his alleged record as a fighter for Negroes and Puerto Ricans in an area that was predominantly white. Indeed he did worse than remaining silent, he actually denied his own campaign material.

Money Quote: It is clear that the pattern of Lane's methods involves a dramatic play for publicity and the substitution of verbal assertion for solid achievement. Lane's handing of issues has a hit-and-run character. His first move is to alert the press in order to focus maximum publicity upon the fact that he has discovered evil. He then makes wide-ranging charges and accusations without substantially investigating whether or not they are accurate. After exploiting the news for a period of time so that his name appears in the press daily, and he is identified by many as confounding evil, he withdraws or shifts his ground. He does not remain long enough to settle or solve anything, but rushes off to attack on another front.

Money Quote:

But, unlike most politicians, Lane seems to measure his success by the amount of hostility he generates in his opposition so that he can be viewed by the public as a figure standing alone. His attacks will invariably arouse hostility because, although they often involve real grievances and some contain an element of truth, he weaves into this smearing and unfair allegations -- which inevitably provoke hostility precisely because they are unfair. The real merit of any issue, then, is buried beneath an unessential skirmish and a battle over side questions. This has the effect of throwing against him, and, more important, against the issue he is raising, many people who might otherwise lend it their support. The very destructiveness of his assault alienates people who become offended by his methods of attack. The result is that issues which might gain wide support, become increasingly confused and controversial as Lane's name becomes associated with them.

Money Quote:

It has been seen in this document that Lane's technique is to create a picture of himself intervening at THE crucial point in important issues and singlehandedly forcing a solution. The first exaggeration (that he intervened in an essential way) is then compounded by adding a second: that a solution has been reached. Why is this dangerous? It is dangerous because a man in political leadership seeking personal glory at the expense of the issues weakens immeasurably the struggle itself. Moreover, perhaps just as serious is the impression fostered by Lane that the issues are in good hands, indeed, that he has SOLVED them. He thus lulls and disarms those who are attempting to reach solutions. Because so many people are not in a position to have intimate knowledge of the many facts involved in particular issues, they accept Lane's interpretations and prognoses, and his pose as the number one fighter for their common cause.

It's amazing to think that this document was written in 1962. The descriptions of Lane mirror what many people would say after he got involved in the JFK assassination.

Previous Relevant Blog Posts on Mark Lane

Should We Blame Mark Lane?

Some ads for Lane's film Rush to Judgment.

In Defense of the Warren Commission

A Garry Wills opinion piece on Mark Lane.

Victor Navasky Reviews Mark Lane's "A Citizen's Dissent"

Navasky tests Lane's book and finds it wanting.

Mark Lane and Jonestown

A New York Times profile of Lane and his involvement with Jonestown.

New York Times Profile of Mark Lane

An apt profile.

Nightmare Brought to Life