Schenck.+U.S.

//**1.)** **What was the name of your case?**// Schenck v. U.S.

June 15th,1917 was the day of the charges. The first court case was January 9th and 10th, 1919 and the ruling was made on March 3rd, 1919.**(1)**
 * //2.)What was the date of your hearing?//**

//**3.) Please say who the chief justice was and give a brief biographical scketch about him/her**// Edward D. White: was an __american__ politician, jurist, US senator, associate justice of the __supreme court__ and the 9th chief justice of the US. Formulated the Rule of Reason standard of antitrust law. Sided with the supreme courts ruling in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson. **(2) (3)(7)** **This is kinda skimpy. Who appointed him CJ?**

The documents and amendments relevant to the case were the First Amendment which was freedom of speech, __congress__ shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech. On __Schenk’s__ behalf he thought the U.S was going against the __first amendment__ by charging him for speaking out about his opinion of the draft for the war. The Espionage act set stiff penalties for uttering and circulating "false" statements intended to interfere with war effort, this was set in 1917. The sedition set an act for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States this was set in1718.
 * 4.) What documents, laws, or ammendments were relevent to your case?**

//**5.) Please give a summary of your case**// This case was a judgement on whether of not Schenk's __first amendment__ right to free speech was being infringed upon. The court ruled that his speaking out against America's draft during the time of WW1 posed a "clear and present danger" to Americans. It violated the Espionage Act of 1917 which prohibited the interference by __american__ citizens of military recruitment. **(2) (8)**

//**6.) What was the main issue or argument in this case?**// The main issue in the case for Schenk is the Espionage act was unconstitutional. Schenk and the socialists party was persecuted for going against what they thought was an immoral war. The __1tst__ amendment was included to protect political speech and to prevent “tyranny of the majority”. The issue of the U.S government was a nation at war is justified in taking steps to insure the success of its effort to defend itself. The case involved congressional draft policy. The nation cannot allow the deprivation of necessary soldiers for the army. The socialist party’s actions were a danger to the nation. The Espionage and sedition acts were appropriate for the war time.

//**7.) What was the decision rendered by the court? Also what was the vote?**// The court decision was written by Justice Oliver Holmes, the court upheld Schenck’s conviction declaring the espionage act as a reasonable limitation to freedom of speech during a time of war. The decision was unanimous 9-0. The court decided this because they thought that __Schencks__ propaganda was a metaphor of someone shouting fire in a theatre and making everyone panic. In short the court held limits to freedom of speech, implying that you cannot use free speech to put others in danger especially during a time of war.

//**8.) Who on the Supreme Court voted what? Why did they do so?**// The Supreme Court voted unanimously is the decision that the Espionage Act was a reasonable and acceptable limitation on speech in time of war and Scheck was guilty of causing a clear and present danger during __a__ war time. The Supreme Court believed that the 1st amendment could not protect Schenk because he was endangering the United States during a very sensitive war time. Schenk was sent to jail for 6 months. This goes back to the question, are there exceptions to rules? Just like and exception to the first amendment is that it is illegal to say fire in a movie theater because it could endanger people’s lives. **(1) (4) (6)**

//**9.) Who were members of the court at the time of your case and how long had they been on the court?**// The chief lawyer who represented the United States was John Lord O’Brian and the Chief lawyers representing Charles T. Schenk were Henry J. Gibbons and Henry John Nelson. The members of the Supreme Court in 1919 were Oliver Wendell Holmes, Louis D. Brandeis, John Hessin Clarke, William Rufus Day, Charles Evans Hughes, Joseph McKenna, James Clark McReynolds, Willis Van Devanter, and Edward Douglass White. All of whom served for a diverse amount of years before this case came about in 1919. Oliver Wendell Holmes was the writer for this case, and he had been on the Supreme Court for 17 years by the time this case occurred. Louis D. Brandeis had been a justice for around 3 years, and the same goes for former justice John Hessin Clarke. William Rufus Day had been a justice for the Supreme Court for around 16 years by the time this case had begun. Charles Evans Hughes had been a justice for 9 years before this case begun. Joseph McKenna had been on the Supreme Court for the longest at about 21 years while James Clark McReynolds had only been a justice for 5 years. Willis Van Devanter was a justice for 8 years by the time this case had begun. And the Chief Justice for the Supreme Court in 1919 was Edward Douglass White and at that time he had been on the Supreme Court 9 years.
 * (5) (6) (9)**

//**10.) What is your personal opinion of the case? Please explain your reasoning.**//

Stephanie: I think this case was a violation of freedom of speech, but if the case went the other way, people might have revolted and overthrown the draft. Carly: Personally, I also agree that this was a violation of the __first amendment__ because people were given the freedom of speech and press so they can express how they feel and if we take that right away from //anybody//, than this country isn't living up to morals that it once declared it would live by. Gabbi: I agree that this case was in violation of Schenks' rights to freedom of speech and freedom of the press. People have rights and when Schenk voiced his opinion he was not endangering anybody.

//** 11.) What would happen if the case went the other way? **// If the case had gone the other way and Schenk had won, I don’t believe there really would be a huge change. Drafts definitely could have been abolished with the fact the Schenk was “protesting them” (no real evidence was ever provided that he in fact was the one who created the pamphlets, it was just his job to mail them) and got in trouble would could have stopped efforts from others, which otherwise could have helped abolish the draft before other wars. It is hard to guess what could have happened if Schenk had not gone to jail but I could not have imagined that there would have been any drastic negative effects, only positive effects.

Stephanie Questions: 1,2,3, and 5 Gabbi Questions: 4, 6 and 7 Carly Questions: 8, 9, and 11 Question 10 ALL

__//**Bibliography:**//__
 * "The Supreme Court . Capitalism and Conflict . Landmark Cases . Schenck v. U.S. (1919) | PBS." //PBS: Public Broadcasting Service//. Web. 14 Feb. 2012. []. (1)**


 * "Schenck v. United States." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Web. 14 Feb. 2012. []. (2)**


 * "Edward Douglass White." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Web. 14 Feb. 2012. []. (3)**


 * "Schenck v. United States (1919)." //Infoplease: Encyclopedia, Almanac, Atlas, Biographies, Dictionary, Thesaurus. Free Online Reference, Research & Homework Help. — Infoplease.com//. Web. 14 Feb. 2012. []. (4)**


 * "The Supreme Court . Capitalism and Conflict . Biographies of the Robes . Oliver Wendell Holmes | PBS." //PBS: Public Broadcasting Service//. Web. 14 Feb. 2012. [].** **(5)**


 * "Schenck v. United States (Supreme Court Drama) - ENotes.com." //ENotes - Literature Study Guides, Lesson Plans, and More.// Web. 14 Feb. 2012. []. (6)**


 * "Edward D. White | The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law." //The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law | A Multimedia Archive of the Supreme Court of the United States//. Web. 14 Feb. 2012. []. (7)**


 * "Espionage Act of 1917." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Web. 14 Feb. 2012. []. (8)**


 * "The Supreme Court Historical Society - History Timeline." //The Supreme Court Historical Society - Home//. Web. 14 Feb. 2012. []. (9)**

**6/7 Biblio - alphabetize!** **24/28 Content - The summary of the case and the CJ sections need more work. What exactly did Schenck do?** **3/5 Organization -- Schenck is constantly misspelled, in many different varieties. Plus, watch out for capitalization.** **33/40Total**