LAD #30: Schenck vs. US

This was a court case in 1919 that supported the Espionage Act, passed in 1917, that did not allow any interference with military plans or operations. Furthermore, this act said that no citizen could turn down the draft, therefore the First Amendment to the Constitution, the freedom of speech, cannot be used to object to the United States Draft. As a result, this case founded the "clear and present danger" test, which is about the draft and speech against it. "The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic... The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent." This case found Schenck guilty (who appealed to the Supreme Court because he felt his right to freedom of speech had been violated) and was sent to jail for six months.