Schenck v.

United States

MAST HSUS HIS – Period 4Ms. Richardson

AIM: How did Schenk v. the United States limit civil liberties during war?

SWBAT analyze Schenk v. the US and evaluate its outcome.

Civil Rights During Wartime

•World War I – acts of sabotage on American property by the Germans caused fear for national security during wartime.

TERMS TO KNOW

• Sedition - conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state

• Espionage - the practice of spying or of using spies to obtain political and military information.

• Sabotage - a deliberate action aimed at weakening.

Congress Reacted• Espionage Act –

1917

-Made it illegal to interfere with military operations, including the draft.

- $10,000 fine/20 years

• Sedition Act – 1918

-Made it illegal to criticize the government (anti-war & unpatriotic sentiments).

Selective Service Act (1917)

•Men 21 to 30 years old must register for draft.•24 million men registered for the draft by the end of 1918.

-Over 2 million drafted and served in WWI.

Eugene Debs – President of the Socialist Party

Sentenced to 10 years in prison for calling these laws unconstitutional

The Case of Charles Schenck

• Charles Schenck, General Secretary of the Socialist Party, opposed the war. – Mailed out 15,000 leaflets urging

opposition to the draft.

• Was arrested and convicted for violations of the Espionage Act.

Constitutional Issue

ISSUE Did the Espionage

Act violate the 1st Amendment protection of freedom of speech?

DECISION • Court ruled Espionage

Act was constitutional

• Free speech was not an absolute right

• Civil liberties may be limited during wartime.

DECISION

•Mr. Schenck’s speech posed a “clear and present danger” to the country and the nation’s war effort.

Importance• Court established the belief that a person’s rights

are not absolute (for all times and in all places).

• The right to free speech does not allow a person to shout “fire” in a crowded theater.

• The Court’s “clear and present danger” ruling allows the restrictions of individual rights in the interest of national security.