Oliver Wendell Holmes

Oliver Wendell Holmes
Born	1841-03-08 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	1935-03-06 (Age 93) Washington DC, U.S.
Alma mater	Harvard University
Religion	Unitarian Universalism
Spouse	Fanny Dixwell
Member of	Alpha Delta Phi, Phi Beta Kappa
Party	Republican
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States In office December 4, 1902 - January 12, 1932  Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court In office August 2, 1899 - December 4, 1902  Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court In office December 15, 1882 - August 2, 1899

On freedom of speech

In Schenck v. United States, Oliver Wendell Holmes famously argued that freedom of speech should not protect a person "falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic." Holmes said that expressions which in the circumstances were intended to result in a crime and posed a "clear and present danger" of succeeding were punishable.

This argument was used to support enforcement of the 1917 Espionage Act during World War I. Charles Schenck and Elizabeth Baer were members of the Executive Committee of the Socialist Party in Philadelphia, of which Schenck was General Secretary. The executive committee authorized, and Schenck oversaw, printing and mailing more than 15,000 leaflets to men slated for conscription during World War I. The leaflets urged men not to submit to the draft, saying "Do not submit to intimidation", "Assert your rights".

Sacco and Vanzetti Case

In 1927, Oliver Wendell Holmes denied an appeal in the case of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti.

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References

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