Smith Act
E56206
The Smith Act is a 1940 U.S. federal law that criminalized advocating the violent overthrow of the government and was widely used during the early Cold War to prosecute suspected communists.
Aliases (1)
Statements (53)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
United States federal statute
→
criminal law statute → |
| alsoKnownAs |
Alien Registration Act of 1940
→
surface form: "Alien Registration Act"
Alien Registration Act of 1940 → Smith Act →
surface form: "Smith Act of 1940"
|
| appliesTo |
citizens of the United States
→
non-citizen residents of the United States → |
| chamberOfOrigin | United States House of Representatives → |
| constitutionalIssue |
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
→
freedom of association → freedom of speech → |
| country |
United States of America
→
surface form: "United States"
|
| dateSigned | 1940-06-28 → |
| enactedBy | 76th United States Congress → |
| enactedIn | 1940 → |
| era |
McCarthyism
→
McCarthyism →
surface form: "Red Scare"
World War II → |
| field |
constitutional law
→
immigration law → national security law → |
| interpretedBy | Supreme Court of the United States → |
| jurisdiction |
United States government
→
surface form: "federal government of the United States"
|
| legalConcept |
advocacy versus incitement
→
clear and present danger → |
| limitedBy | Yates v. United States → |
| namedAfter | Howard W. Smith → |
| notableCase |
Dennis v. United States
→
Stack v. Boyle → Yates v. United States → |
| officialName | Alien Registration Act of 1940 → |
| penaltyIncludes |
fines
→
imprisonment → |
| primaryPurpose |
to criminalize advocacy of violent overthrow of the United States government
→
to require registration of non-citizen adult residents → |
| prohibits |
advocating the overthrow of the government of the United States by force or violence
→
knowingly becoming a member of a group that advocates violent overthrow of the government → organizing or helping to organize any group that advocates violent overthrow of the government → |
| relatedTo |
Espionage Act of 1917
→
Internal Security Act of 1950 → McCarran Act → Sedition Act of 1918 → |
| requires | registration of all non-citizen adult residents with the federal government → |
| signedBy |
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
→
surface form: "Franklin D. Roosevelt"
|
| sponsor | Howard W. Smith → |
| status | partially enforced → |
| subjectMatter |
alien registration
→
sedition → subversive activities → |
| upheldIn | Dennis v. United States → |
| usedDuring | early Cold War → |
| usedToProsecute |
members of the Communist Party USA
→
suspected communists → |
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
this entity surface form: "Smith Act of 1940"