Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. a.k.a. "The Mustache"
In 1918, Charles Schenck, a leader of the Socialist Party in Philadelphia, was brought before the Supreme Court after mailing out pamphlets to draftees during World War I urging them to resist the draft. Schenck was strongly opposed to the draft, believing it to be motivated by capitalism, and told the draftees not to submit to US intimidation. Since he was obstructing recruitment into the US military and trying to cause insubordination, Schenck was charged with conspiracy to violate the Espionage Act of 1917, which prohibited either of these acts. Although free speech and free press are protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution, the court unanimously found Schenck guilty, as he was in direct violation of this act. Justice Oliver W. Holmes Jr. claimed that if words prove to provide a "clear and present danger" to the United States or its people, they should be protected from that danger.
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