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Espionage Act

Congress enacted the Espionage Act of 1917 on June 15, two months after the United States entered World War I. 


The Espionage Act of 1917 prohibited obtaining information, recording pictures, or copying descriptions of any information relating to the national defense with intent or reason to believe that the information may be used for the injury of the United States or to the advantage of any foreign nation.


The act also created criminal penalties for anyone obstructing enlistment in the armed forces or causing insubordination or disloyalty in military or naval forces.


In June 1918, Title 1 of the Espionage Act was expanded to limit speech critical of the war with the passage of the Sedition Act of 1918. Although Congress repealed the Sedition Act of 1918 in 1921, many portions of the Espionage Act of 1917 are still law.


Several cases involving the Espionage Act (and the 1918 Sedition Act) made it to the Supreme Court in the years following World War I, with the court upholding several convictions under the law. The rulings during this period established early concepts such as allowing the government more latitude during wartime to punish speech that creates a "clear and present danger."

  • Debs v. United States (1919)

In Debs v. United States (1919), a low point in the protection of free
speech during wartime, the Court sustained a socialist leader’s conviction
under the Sedition Act of 1918.

  • Dennis v. United States (1951)

Dennis v. United States (1951) applied the First Amendment clear and
present danger test to uphold the convictions of U.S.-based communists for
their political teachings.

  • Abrams v. United States (1919)

In Abrams v. U.S., the Supreme Court in 1919 upheld the convictions of
several individuals under the 1918 Sedition Act for distributing leaflets
opposed to U.S. intervention in the Russian civil war involving the
Bolsheviks.

  • Frohwerk v. United States(1919)

Frohwerk v. United States (1919) upheld a conviction for an article
criticizing World War I while also affirming that First Amendment rights do
not disappear during wartime.

  • Gilbert v. Minnesota (1920)

In Gilbert v. Minnesota, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction of Joseph
Gilbert for criticizing conscription and U.S. participation in World War I.

  • Hartzel v. United States (1944)

Hartzel v. United States (1944) overturned a conviction under the Espionage
Act of 1917, shifting toward tolerance of First Amendment speech
criticizing the war.

  • Pierce v. United States (1920)

Pierce v. United States (1920), the last ruling regarding the criminal
sections of the Espionage Act, represented another setback for civil
liberties in the World War I era.

  • Schaefer v. United States (1920)

Schaefer v. United States (1920), which upheld convictions for reports
hindering the war effort, was representative of setbacks to First Amendment
freedoms during World War I.

  • Schenck v. United States (1919)

Schenck v. United States (1919) demonstrated the limits to the First
Amendment during wartime and affirmed the conviction of Charles Schenck for
violating the Espionage Act.

  • Sugarman v. United States (1919)

Sugarman v. United States (1919) upheld a conviction under the Espionage
Act against a challenge that the judge had not given instructions about
First Amendment protection.

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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

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