Dennis et. al. v. US
Date: 1951
Case Background:
This case was concerning Eugene Dennis, General Secretary of the Communist Party USA. In 1948, eleven Communist Party leaders were convicted of advocating a violent overthrow of the U.S. government and for violating multiple points of the Smith Act. Issue: The party members felt that their petitioning for socialist reform claimed that the act violated their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech. They believed that they were causing no clear and present danger to the nation. Decision: The Supreme Court decided that Dennis was guilty as convicted, for being a leader of the Communist Party in the U.S. He posed a threat to the nation for conspiring and organizing to over throw the government under provisions of the Smith Act. Impact: Yates v. United States followed in 1957 and restricted the holding in this case. The ruling there was that the Smith Act "did not prohibit advocacy of forcible overthrow of the government as an abstract doctrine." |
Justice: Fred M. Vinson
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