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Yates v. United States  

Definition

  • After the Supreme Court’s decision in Dennis v. United States (1951), two questions—one of fact and one of theory—dominated the First Amendment legal landscape: Would the U.S. government continue to prosecute American communists successfully? Would the clear and present danger test survive as the leading First Amendment standard in cases involving advocacy of illegal conduct? Although the Court answered the first question in Yates v. United States , 354 U.S. 298 (1957), its failure to address the second inquiry contributed to the demise of the clear and present danger test more than a decade later in Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969). The Court’s decision in Dennis, which upheld the convictions of leading American communists under the Smith Act of 1940 for organizing a party to overthrow the government, prompted the Justice Department to proceed with fifteen new prosecutions of 129 communists in the United States; 96 of these were convicted, while only 10 were acquitted. [Source: Encyclopedia of the First Amendment; Yates v. United States (1957)]

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Date

  • 1957
  • 1958

URI

https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/Yates_v._United_States

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