Charles Schenck, an american socialist was giving out flyers telling men to avoid enlisting in the Great War. He believed that the draft was unconstitional for it violated the 13th amendment because it enforced “involuntary servitude” and due to the fact the war was motivated by “capitalist greed”. Schenck was arrested and charged with violating the new Espionage Act, claiming he was trying to incite insubordination in the military and naval forces. He appealed to the supreme court stating that the act when against the 1st amendment however Justice Oliver Wendell Homes disagreed. He wrote a pioneering piton that claimed that an inducible’s Freedom of Speech was not guaranteed when the speech would cause “clear and present danger”, which in his opinion Schenck did. The Supreme Court vote was unanimously against Schneck although the ruling has since been overturned.
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