In 1959, he would raise by habeas corpus petition a claim of double jeopardy pursuant to the U.S. Supreme Court case of Green v. U.S., which had held in 1957, subsequent to the third conviction, that in a Federal criminal case, double jeopardy prevented a subsequent reprosecution for first degree murder when the defendant was found guilty of second degree murder and the conviction reversed on appeal. He claimed therefore that the holding prevented his 1951 and 1953 reprosecutions for first degree murder because of the original conviction in 1949 only for second degree murder. The New York Appellate Division, the intermediate appellate court, held, however, that since the Supreme Court had not extended double jeopardy under the Fifth Amendment to the states, the Green holding was not binding on New York, which followed a different rule, that New York's double jeopardy provision was not infringed by such a subsequent retrial for first degree murder after reversal of a second degree murder conviction, as the appellate reversal worked to render the earlier trial a nullity under State law. The Court also ruled that, in any event, the appellant had waived the defense of double jeopardy for not having raised it at the two subsequent trials, though he had in his third direct appeal. It also pointed out that the third conviction was for second degree murder on which he had never been acquitted. His third conviction was thus affirmed.

In 1965, however, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed the third conviction, holding that the reprosecution for first degree murder did infringe the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process clause for it being fundamentally unfair under double jeopardy considerations and because it was reasonably probable that the defendant was prejudiced by being tried the third time for first degree murder, even though he was found guilty only of second degree murder. The Court also found that the defendant had raised the double jeopardy contention at the prior two trials and thus had not waived it. Rather than go through a fourth trial, the State chose to allow the defendant to enter a plea of guilty to manslaughter in 1966, on a sentence of credit for time served. He then became a monk.

He said that while the Communist Party was the largest single party in the country, it had but 30 percent of the seats in the National Assembly and its power had diminished rapidly since 1947.

The country's industry was producing 30 percent more than in prewar years, with coal and steel at the highest levels ever achieved except in 1929. Agricultural production had risen six percent since the war, making the country self-sustaining in food, even able to export some foodstuffs.

The largest employer was the cotton textile industry, obtaining 80 percent of its cotton through ERP credits.

Mr. Bingham, in addressing the complaint of ingratitude for the two billion dollars in American aid, explained that the true Frenchman was leery of enthusiasm by nature and every Frenchman had paid the full value in francs for anything received from America. The francs received went into a fund which corresponded to the dollars earmarked for ERP aid to France, a large part of which was being used to build public works to advance France three generations in three years, rebuilding the railway system, harbor installations, important dams and constructing thermal plants and developing more electric power.

ERP received as many as four thousand letters a week from the French praising the work of the Marshall Plan.

The French tax system was not at all equitable, placing too much burden on the middle and lower classes. Yet, the Government collected 30 percent of its total national income in 1950 from taxes while the U.S. got 26 percent.

Mr. Bingham also found the people to be far from defeated in spirit, a rumor spread by Parliament and the French press. The country had pledged ten combat divisions by the end of the year to support of NATO, fifteen by the end of 1952 and twenty in 1953. He assured that France would play its full part in fighting the Soviets, provided there was sufficient time to receive adequate arms, genuine development of a Western defense force, and assurance of American support on the ground and in the air.

The dollar gap had been reduced from a billion in 1948 to 150 million, a yardstick of progress. Mr. Bingham therefore pleaded with Americans to help further by purchasing French products. It was also necessary to help France recover from its chief affliction, lack of confidence in itself. To restore that national pride, America needed to show its faith in the French and make them strong partners into the future.

"'Momism' and Mother's Day", on the eve of Mother's Day, tells of novelist-essayist Philip Wylie being convinced that the country was too much concerned with "Mom", which he dubbed "Momism". While he had a point, the piece thinks he was overdoing it as the modern mom sought neither worship nor awe, preparing her children for the world through counsel and affection, protective without smothering. She also worked in civic organizations to make the world better.