1. Abrams v. United States, (1919)
2. Facts: ∆’s produced and distributed leaflets that were pro-revolution in Russia, and urged the U.S. factory workers to strike, so that arms and munitions being produced for WWII would not be used against the revolutionaries in Russia.
3. Procedural Posture: The ∆s were charged with violation of a section of the Espionage Act which prohibited advocating the “curtailment of production of ordnance and ammunition, necessary to the production of the war.”
4. Issue: Whether the government may criminalize the speech presented here.
5. Holding: Yes.
6. Majority Reasoning: Based on Schenk, this speech is clearly prohibitable. Even though their primary purpose was pro-Russian, it had an anti-American effect by urging strikes.
7. Dissent Reasoning: [Holmes] The ∆s did not intend to interfere with the war against Germany. There was not clear and present danger present because the leaflet was silly and posed no immediate danger to the U.S. government. Free speech is necessary because it is the “marketplace of ideas” that generates what the truth really is. The suppression of free speech should only be permitted when necessary to immediately save the country.
