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Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., articulated the "clear and present danger test" in the unanimous opinion for the US Supreme Court's landmark decision in Schenck v. United States, (1919). [This case is also the source of Holmes' famous quote about the First Amendment not protecting a person "shouting fire in a crowded theater."]

The test set a standard for determining reasonable restrictions on the First Amendment right to free speech based on whether the speech, written or spoken, constituted a "clear and present danger."

In this case, the danger (printed pamphlets discouraging new draftees from enlisting) was determined to be a risk to the United States' recruitment and conscription efforts during WW I, and in violation of the new 1917 Espionage Act; however, the concept has been used as a test in many cases through the years.

The criteria for what constitutes unprotected speech was subsequently narrowed in other cases, most recently Bradenburg v. Ohio, 395 US 444 (1969) when the Court upheld the First Amendment rights of the Ku Klux Klan. The standard established under Bradenburg is "imminent lawless action," meaning the First Amendment exercise has to be severe enough that it's likely to incite immediate violence or other unlawful behavior.

Case Citation:

Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47 (1919)

For more information, see Related Questions, below.

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Q: Who devised the clear and present danger test?
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