any judicial or quasi-judicial action, trial or hearing which so grossly violates
standards of "due process" that a party appearing in the proceedings (hearing or
trial) is denied a fair hearing. The term comes from a large room with a ceiling
decorated with stars in which secret hearings of the privy council and judges met
to determine punishment for disobedience of the proclamations of King Henry VIII
of Great Britain (1509-1547). The high-handed, unfair, predetermined judgments,
which sent the accused to the Tower of London or to the chopping block, made "star
chamber" synonymous with unfairness and illegality from the bench. In modern American
history the best example of star chamber proceedings was the conduct of the House
Un-American Activities Committee (1938-1975), which used its subpena power to intimidate
citizens by asking them unconstitutional questions about their political beliefs
and associations, and then charging them with contempt of Congress for refusing
to answer. Another example was the conduct of criminal proceedings against black
defendants in some southern states from 1876 until the late 1960s.
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