Schenck v. United States

Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47 (1919), is a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court.

During World War I, Charles Schenck, secretary of the Socialist Party, circulated leaflets urging men to resist the draft. He was convicted under the Espionage Act of 1917. He appealed, arguing that the conviction violated the First Amendment’s protection of free speech.

Significance

Justice Holmes’s unanimous opinion upheld the conviction and announced the ‘clear and present danger’ test. The most famous passage states that ’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 is whether the words are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger. While Schenck’s conviction was upheld, the test itself became the foundation for modern free speech law.

Category

US Federal Case Law