Nathaniel L. Goldstein - Fighting The Klan and Illegal Drugs

Fighting The Klan and Illegal Drugs

Much of his time was consumed with rent-control litigation. However, another long-investigated and much-publicized case, which he personally supervised, had as its goal the withdrawal of the New York State charter for the Ku Klux Klan, which the organization had managed to clandestinely acquire in 1923.

Goldstein had one of his agents join the Klan and come to know the secret society's inner workings, while uncovering its propagators and organizers. He was quoted in a statement issued by the office of New York Attorney General, that "the principles of hate, intolerance, bigotry and violence must be stamped out" as he transmitted to the Federal Bureau of Investigation 1100 names of members of the Ku Klux Klan and the Hitler-resurgent German-American Bund. On July 29, 1946, the New York State Supreme Court revoked the Klan's charter.

The final years of Goldstein's tenure were occupied with fighting the growing spread of illegal narcotics, which he called "socially contagious". He devoted numerous task forces to the problem and lobbied Congress to provide for enforced treatment of those who become addicted. He was also deeply involved in international drug control through his service as advisor to the United States negotiators in the United Nations committees dealing with the matter.