HIGH COURT UPHOLDS SOCIALIST'S CONVICTION FOR RESISTANCE TO DRAFT
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On March 3, 1919, the United States Supreme Court handed down a landmark decision in Charles T. Schenck* v. United States. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.** wrote the majority opinion which held that Mr. Schenck's conviction for violating the Espionage Act of 1917*** was constitutional.
Mr. Schenck, general secretary of the United States Socialist Party, had been responsible for the printing and distribution of 15,000 - 20,000 leaflets to draft age men calling for resistance to induction in the armed services.
Justice Holmes argued that the First Amendment to the United States Constitution did NOT protect speech encouraging men to resist the draft. He wrote that circumstances of war permit greater restriction on free speech than in peacetime.
*Charles T. Schenck (pronounced SHANK) was found guilty of violation of the Espionage Act of 1917 & convicted on 3 counts. CTS was sentenced to 10 years for each count but served only 6 months in federal prison.
**Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841-1935) was born in Boston and earned his BA & law degrees at Harvard University. OWH served in the Union Army in the Civil War. He was Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court (1899-1902) & Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court (1902-1932). OWH was appointed to the USSC by President Theodore Roosevelt.
***Espionage Act of 1917 required any protest or anti-government speech must be in line with the government's ability to protect the well-being of its citizens.
