Schenck vs. US
Summary: Charles Schenck was an anti-drafter during the Great War. He circulated pamphlets to draftees urging them to protest the Conscription Act and avoid the draft. Schenck was then arrested on charges of Conspiracy (to Violate the Espionage Act) by encouraging military insubordination. His appeal was unanimously struck down, with the key line of the case being "The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent." This essentially waved Schenck's First Amendment rights because they endangered US Military and Government interests. As can be seen above, many rallied around the defense of free speech, but the ruling held and set a new precedent in American politics and law.
(Similarly a century later, the post-9/11 USA PATRIOT Act muddied the waters of citizen's rights, under the purpose of protecting and empowering military interests to fight off the contemporary enemy of the USA).
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