New Rules: Schenck V. United States

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War Time Calls for New Rules “The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic,” said Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes (qtd. in “Key Supreme Court Cases”). In the Supreme Court Case Schenck v. United States, Charles Schenck was found guilty of violating the Espionage Act of 1917 by passing out pamphlets encouraging young men to ignore the Selective Service Act of 1917. After pleading his freedom of speech rights, Schenck was presented with the clear and present danger test, derived by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. Schenck v. United States, the first U.S. Supreme Court Case which ruled on the right to free speech as protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution, …show more content…
Because of the vulnerability instituted in Americans during war time, Congress had the ideal incentive to stifle freedom of speech amongst U.S. citizens. The Espionage Act also made it illegal to “obstruct the recruiting or enlistment of services of the United States” (“Schenck v. United States” 280). The Selective Service Act of 1917 authorized the United States Federal Government to establish a draft of men for the United States Army. Under this act, it is within the powers of Congress to punish any male who obstructs the draft or encourages soldiers to be disloyal or insubordinate to his country. If a U.S. citizen was found guilty of violating either of these acts, he or she would be subjected to court and either sent to prison or charged a …show more content…
The pamphlets deliberately argued that the Selective Service Act of 1917 violated the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by saying it “derided conscription as despotism, a monstrous wrong, and is a means of reducing men to convicts” (“Free Speech and World War I”). Schenck’s goal was to encourage men to defend their rights and oppose the draft. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Supreme Court Justice in charge of Schenck v. United States, charged Schenck with three accounts: “(1) conspiracy to violate the Espionage Act of 1917 by causing and attempting to cause insubordination in the military, and by obstructing military recruiting and enlistment; (2) conspiracy to use the mails to transmit a non-mailable document (i.e., the document in violation of the Espionage Act); and (3) unlawful use of the mails” (“Free Speech and World War I”). Schenck was found guilty by the U.S. Supreme Court on all three accounts, and sentenced to ten years in prison. Schenck pleaded the right of freedom of speech provided by the First Amendment to the Constitution and argued that the draft violated the Thirteenth Amendment by offering men as slaves to war. However, Holmes informed Schenck and the United States with the clear and present danger test that one cannot, in fact, speak poorly of his or her country
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