Sunday, May 19, 2013

Clear and present danger

The phrase can be paraphrased as
If the speech creates the possibility that it might result in effective opposition to government policy, in this case of the draft law, then that speech is not protected by the Constitution.
This understanding of the First Amendment, by Oliver Wendell Holmes, seems not so good, especially comparing it to Justice L. Hand's ruling earlier in the "Masses" (the name of the publication) case.