Abrams v. United states

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Abrams v. United states

• Meghan Ragard
• Honors Government

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Facts on the defendants

• The five defendants were all born in Russia.
• They were all highly educated and had been living
  in the U.S. for at least five years.

Four of the five defendants. www.supremecourthisto
ry.org
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Abrams v. United states

• The defendants were convicted of passing out
  pamphlets which were against sending American
  troops into Russia.
• The second pamphlet discussed the disapproval of
  the war and the US efforts to invade the Russian
  Revolution.

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Question Ruling

• The Supreme Court ruled that the Espionage Act
  did not violate the first amendment.

• Did the Espionage Act violate the first
  amendment?

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Majority Opinion

• Justice Clarke wrote the majority opinion.
• The majority decision said the pamphlets were
  distributed to prevent Americans from supporting
  the decision to be in the war.

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Dissenting opinion

• Justice Holmes wrote the dissenting opinion.
• They believed that the pamphlets were written to
  stop Americans from intervening with the Russian
  Revolution.

Justice Holmes http//blog.syracuse.com
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Sources

• www.wikipedia.com
• www.oyez.org
• www.firstamendmentcenter.org
• http//caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/

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Curry v. Saginaw City School District

• Joel Curry distributed candy canes with a
  religious message attached.
• Joel was told to stop selling the candy canes.
• His mother believed it was his right to
  distribute these items in a public school.
• They sided with the school because his
  constitutional rights were not violated.