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Schenck v. United States |
Case Type: |
Historical (1919).
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Exigence: |
Schenck, general secretary of the Socialist Party, arranged for the printing of 15,000 copies of an pamphlet opposing conscription and U.S. involvement in World War One. Some copies were distributed to men who had been listed in the paper as accepted into the armed forces.
He is convicted for attempting to obstruct the draft.
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Audience: |
The U.S. Supreme Court.
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Possible |
According to Oliver Wendell Holmes, J., the central issue is whether the pamphlet can be protected under the circumstances. He argues that the First Amendment might indeed protect this speech "in ordinary times." But when there is a "clear and present danger" that the speech will cause harm--as when someone falsely shouts fire in a theater and causes a panic--it can be punished.
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Decision: |
The conviction was upheld. See the full version of Justice Holmes' reasoning in this annotated, hypertext version of the decision.
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Related |
Harm to society Historical cases |
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Notes: |
The source, of course, for the famous but often mis-quoted phrase, "falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic."
See this page for a discussion of briefing the Schenck case. Help is available about the categories used on this case page.
Reward for getting this far: The first quiz will either ask to you brief Near or to brief Tinker.
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Copyright © 1997 Jean Goodwin. All rights reserved. jeangoodwin@nwu.edu Last updated The Free Speech website, http://faculty-web.at.nwu.edu/commstud/freespeech/ |
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