Page 14 - Historical Dictionary of Political Communication in the United States

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ABRAMS v. UNITED STATES. Freedom of expression case in which Justice
Oliver Wendell Holmes departed from the restrictive doctrine of "clear and
present danger" to a more liberal view concerned with the actual impact of
expression on the national welfare. On August 23, 1918, Jacob Abrams was
arrested in New York City for distributing two leaflets that condemned President
Woodrow Wilson for sending American troops to Russia and called for a general
strike to protest. Abrams was arrested for violating the Sedition Act of 1917.
While Abrams was out on bail, the Supreme Court upheld two convictions of
antiwar socialists, Charles T. Schenck and Eugene V. Debs. Both unanimous
decisions were written by Holmes. In the Schenck case, he wrote:
The question in every case is whether the words are used in such circumstances and are
of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the
substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent.

Abrams was convicted, and the case went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which
upheld the conviction, 7-2. Justice John Clarke wrote the majority opinion,
following Holmes' reasoning in Schenck closely. Holmes, however, sought to
refine the doctrine. He denied that "the surreptitious publishing of a silly leaflet
by an unknown man" met the clear and present danger test. He went on to say
that the First Amendment protects the expression of all opinions, "unless they
so imminently threaten immediate interference with the lawful and pressing pur-
poses of the law that an immediate check is required to save the country."
SOURCES: Abrams v. U.S., 250 U.S. 616, 1919; Schenck v. U.S., 249 U.S. 47, 1919.
Larry L. Burriss

ADAMS, SAMUEL (1722-1803) is often called the "Father of the American
Revolution." Adams, who grew up in Boston and was educated at Harvard,