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Bad Tendency Test

The bad tendency test was mostly used to determine whether criticism of World War I was protected by the First Amendment. The end result of the bad tendency test was that during the wartime era the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the government’s anti-seditious behavior almost without fail. Among the most well-known cases related to the First Amendment were Abrams v. United States (1919), Gitlow v. New York (1925), and Whitney v. California (1927).

  • Fox v. Washington (1915)

The ruling in Fox v. Washington (1915), dealing with an article on nude
bathing, was issued before the Court recognized that the First Amendment
limited state governments.

  • Gitlow v. New York (1925)

In Gitlow v. New York, the Court applied free speech and press protection
to the states through the due process clause of the the Fourteenth
Amendment.

ABOUT US

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The Free Speech Center is a nonpartisan, nonprofit public policy center dedicated to building understanding of the five freedoms of the First Amendment through education, information and engagement.

freespeechcenter@mtsu.edu

FEATURE POSTS

Happy birthday to us – on the day that cleared a road to freedom

Memorial Day: Honoring those who gave all for our freedoms

White House Correspondents’ Dinner: levity, gravity, and a toast to the First Amendment

The origins of academic freedom in the U.S.

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