Abrams v. United States

E56207

First Amendment case U.S. Supreme Court case free speech case

Abrams v. United States was a 1919 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld the conviction of antiwar activists under federal law and is best known for Justice Holmes’s famous dissent articulating the “marketplace of ideas” concept in free speech jurisprudence.

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All labels observed (6)

Label	Occurrences
Abrams v. United States canonical	11
Abrams v. United States, 250 U.S. 616 (1919)	2
Abrams v. United States dissent	1
Abrams v. United States later cited as a key step toward modern free speech protections	1
Holmes dissent in Abrams v. United States	1
Jacob Abrams et al. v. United States	1

Statements (51)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	First Amendment case ⓘ U.S. Supreme Court case ⓘ free speech case ⓘ
category	United States Supreme Court cases of the White Court ⓘ United States free speech case law ⓘ
citation	250 U.S. 616 ⓘ 40 S. Ct. 17 ⓘ 63 L. Ed. 1173 ⓘ
constitutionalProvisionInterpreted	First Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ surface form: First Amendment
country	United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
decisionDate	1919-11-10 ⓘ
defendants	Hyman Lachowsky ⓘ Jacob Abrams ⓘ Jacob Schwartz ⓘ Mollie Steimer ⓘ Samuel Lipman ⓘ
dissentingOpinionBy	Justice Louis D. Brandeis ⓘ surface form: Louis D. Brandeis Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. ⓘ
era	World War I free speech cases ⓘ
famousFor	Justice Holmes’s dissenting opinion ⓘ articulation of the marketplace of ideas concept ⓘ
fullName	Abrams v. United States self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Jacob Abrams et al. v. United States
historicalContext	United States participation in World War I ⓘ
holding	held that the leaflets posed a sufficient danger to be punished under the Espionage Act as amended ⓘ upheld convictions of defendants for distributing leaflets criticizing U.S. involvement in World War I ⓘ
introducedConcept	marketplace of ideas in free speech jurisprudence ⓘ
jurisdiction	Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
legalIssue	Espionage Act of 1917 ⓘ First Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ surface form: First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution Sedition Act of 1918 ⓘ freedom of speech ⓘ
majorityOpinionBy	John Hessin Clarke ⓘ
relatedCase	Debs v. United States ⓘ Frohwerk v. United States ⓘ Gitlow v. New York ⓘ Schenck v. United States ⓘ
result	convictions affirmed ⓘ
speechContent	call for a general strike in munitions production ⓘ criticism of U.S. intervention in Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution ⓘ
speechTypeAtIssue	leaflets in English and Yiddish ⓘ
standardAppliedByMajority	bad tendency test ⓘ
standardDiscussedInDissent	clear and present danger test ⓘ
statuteApplied	Espionage Act of 1917 ⓘ Sedition Act of 1918 ⓘ
subsequentInfluence	cited in later Supreme Court opinions on the First Amendment ⓘ influenced later free speech jurisprudence ⓘ
topic	World War I dissent ⓘ antiwar activism ⓘ political speech ⓘ
vote	7–2 ⓘ
yearDecided	1919 ⓘ

Referenced by (17)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Espionage Act of 1917 → usedInCase → Abrams v. United States ⓘ

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. → notableWork → Abrams v. United States ⓘ

this entity surface form: Abrams v. United States dissent

Schenck v. United States → relatedCase → Abrams v. United States ⓘ

Frohwerk v. United States → relatedCase → Abrams v. United States ⓘ

Abrams v. United States → fullName → Abrams v. United States self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: Jacob Abrams et al. v. United States

Sedition Act of 1918 → relatedTo → Abrams v. United States ⓘ

clear and present danger test → appliedInCase → Abrams v. United States ⓘ

Jacob Abrams → notableWork → Abrams v. United States ⓘ

Jacob Abrams → participantIn → Abrams v. United States ⓘ

United States Supreme Court cases of the White Court → hasNotableCase → Abrams v. United States ⓘ

Jacob Schwartz → defendantIn → Abrams v. United States ⓘ

Jacob Schwartz → relatedTo → Abrams v. United States ⓘ

this entity surface form: Holmes dissent in Abrams v. United States

Hyman Lachowsky → participantIn → Abrams v. United States ⓘ

Hyman Lachowsky → legalCase → Abrams v. United States ⓘ

this entity surface form: Abrams v. United States, 250 U.S. 616 (1919)

Hyman Lachowsky → caseSignificance → Abrams v. United States ⓘ

this entity surface form: Abrams v. United States later cited as a key step toward modern free speech protections

Samuel Lipman → participantIn → Abrams v. United States ⓘ

Samuel Lipman → legalProceeding → Abrams v. United States ⓘ

this entity surface form: Abrams v. United States, 250 U.S. 616 (1919)