Schenck vs. US
Storyboard Text
- Charles T. Schenck was the general secretary for the Philadelphia Socialist Party. He printed 15,000 fliers to attempt and get the draft law appealed. His goal was to get young men to fight for their right and try to get them to stop the draft law.
- Once I get these fliers up, we can finally get the draft law appealed. It's brilliant!
- Now off to get fifteen thousand of these printed
- Your honor, this man here is putting the whole country at risk!
- First the defendant
- Justice Holmes put in the opinion and it was decided unanimously, on the US side, arguing that the security of the country outweighed Schneck's first amendment rights
- Alright, next Justice Holmes
- Sure, your honor. The first amendment is freedom of speech. I figured that if I publish the fliers under the first amendment, freedom of speech would apply.
- Guilty. Guilty! Charles T. Schenck is found guilty.
- After this case, there was a new rule created called, "clear and present danger" which authorize the punishment of speech based on its content and viewpoints The government won most of the time until the rule was abandoned, replacing with a new rule that allows defendants to speak more freely.
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