LAD #26: Schenck V. United States; Baer V. United States
Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes delivered an opinion of the Supreme Court on March 3, 1919 The charge was against a conspiracy to violate the Espionage Act. They were planning on obstructing the recruiting and enlistment service during WWI. The men accused of this crime had created pamphlets trying to persuade men to not enlist in the Army. Also, these men had illegally used federal mail for this purpose. Schenck was the secretary of the Socialist Party and he was in charge of its headquarters. He was responsible for distributing this revolutionary material. The Socialist document recited the 13th Amendment and said that the Conscription Act violated this Amendment. It also said that conscription was terrible and an act of despotism and wronged humanity. As well, it begged people to assert their rights and show their dislike of the draft. The pamphlet said that the conscription act was being used as part of a government conspiracy. The accused said that the pamphlet was allowed by the First Amendment of free speech. Yet, the Supreme Court ruled that it was illegal because it was harmful to the people of the US and that superseded individual rights.
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