During the Great War, or as we know it, World War I, Schenck mailed information to draftees of the war that said the capitalist system was wronging them in having them sign up for the draft. In this, he urged them to help his cause by petitioning the Conscription Act, but not by violent measures. He was thus charged with conspiracy for going against the Espionage Act. Holmes, the justice that spoke for the court's unanimous decision, said that this was illegal despite his rights promised in the first Amendment to the Constitution. This was an exception. His words in this case would have created a "clear and present danger" which could bring the democratic country into termoil. Congress thus had the power to stop him from saying said words. This was mostly because we were now in a wartime so utterances prior allowed in peacetimes were unacceptable.
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