𝐉𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐫 on Nostr: The Supreme Court case affirming Debs's conviction came out a week after the one ...

The Supreme Court case affirming Debs's conviction came out a week after the one affirming the conviction of Charles Schenck, the head of the Philadelphia Socialist Party. The Schenck case is the source of the "falsely shouting fire in a crowded theater" line, Justice Holmes's point being that what Schenck had done was no different from that. What Shenck had done was mail out some flyers to guys who were about to be drafted into World War I, containing such inflammatory statements as "If you do not assert and support your rights, you are helping to deny or disparage rights which it is the solemn duty of all citizens and residents of the United States to retain," and suggesting that the draft was involuntary servitude in violation of the Thirteenth Amendment.