les T. Schenck, and the members of the party mailed between 15,000 and 16,000 pamphlets to draftees. Those pamphlets described draftees as “a little more than a convict” and tried to convince them to resist conscription. The case was decided March 3, 1919. Mr. Justice Holmes delivered the opinion of the entire Court. He stated that “in many places and in ordinary times the defendants in saying all that was said in the circular would have been within their constitutional rights.” However, any act depends on the circumstances in which it was done. “The most stringent protection of free speech, would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a crowded theatre and causing a panic. It does not even protect a man from an injunction against uttering words that may have all the effect of force.” The “clear and present danger” rule came out of this. He also wrote “Circumstances that would create a clear and present danger, Congress has a right to prevent…. When a nation is at war many things that mighty be said in time of peace are such a hindrance to its effort that their utterance will not be endured so long as men fight and that no Court could regard them as protected by any constitutional right.” Charles T. Schenck was sentenced to a maximum of twenty years in a federal penitentiary. This case had a great impact on the country, because it gave rise to a “clear and present danger” rule.The trial of Abrams vs. United States took place on October 21 and 22 of the year 1919. They have violated the Espionage Act of Congress (section 3, title I, of Act June 15, 1917, c. 30, 40 Stat. 219, as amended by Act May 16, 1918, c. 75, 40 Stat. 553 [Comp. St. 1918, 10212c]). They were convicted on the basis of these four counts: (1) used bad language about the form of the government of the United States, (2) usage of the type of a language which could/intended to br...
