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Shorter Articles, Comments, and Notes: ‘Clear and Present Danger’: Responses to Terrorism

2004; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 54; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1093/iclq/54.1.185

1471-6895

Vaughan Lowe,

American Constitutional Law and Politics

It was Oliver Wendell Holmes who used the words ‘clear and present danger’ in the judgment of the US Supreme Court in the Schenk case in 1919. 1 The Court upheld the conviction of Charles Schenk, general secretary of the American Socialist Party, under the 1917 Espionage Act, which prohibited attempts to obstruct military recruitment. Schenk had distributed leaflets allegedly calculated to cause insubordination and obstruction among recruits. He argued that his conviction was incompatible with the freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment.