As mentioned in a previous column, I’m writing a journalism textbook. I plan for Chapter 3 to be titled “Ethical Concepts” and it’s the chapter I’m writing first.
I’m currently writing a section about the “clear and present danger test.” One hundred years ago the Supreme Court established the clear and present danger test as the predominant standard for determining when speech is protected by the First Amendment.”
Proposed by Justice Holmes, the test permitted the punishment of expression when the words 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 (Zuckman & Gaynes, 1983, p. 6).
The test was originally used in Schenck vs. United States. The expression tested was in a pamphlet averring that the draft violated the 13th Amendment. Charles Schenck was charged with conspiracy to violate the Espionage Act of 1917 by attempting to cause insubordination in the military and to obstruct recruitment. Schenck was convicted of violating this law and appealed on the grounds that the statute violated the First Amendment.
1. Which word is not in the First Amendment?
A. abridging
B. respecting
C. press
D. partition
E. peaceably
——————-
2.aver (uh-VER)
A. to attenuate
B. to cajole
C. to declare
D. to scrutinize
——————-
No. 1 is D. No. 2 is C.
3. espionage (EH-spee-uh-nazh)
A. obstructing justice
B. spying or using spies to steal information about a foreign government
C. a branch of ethics.
D. All of the above
——————-
4. Two letters that should go over the “a” in “nazh” in No. 3 are called
A. an umlaut.
B. the tilde.
C. a posteriori.
D. the enunciation mark.
——————-
5. What was the issue surrounding the clear and present danger test?
A. The pamphlets incited riots.
B. The public was encouraged to disobey the draft in a time of war.
C. One should never criticize the government.
D. All of the above
No. 3 is B. No. 4 is A. What about No. 5? The “clear and present danger” is that it attacked the Conscription Act of World War I and urged conscripts to resist serving by asserting their alleged rights under the 13th Amendment. B is the answer.
Editor’s Note: Dr. Don Rodney Vaughan is the pastor of Mt. Vernon Baptist Church near Eupora and is on the faculty of East Mississippi Community College, Golden Triangle Campus. Contact him at dvaughan@eastms.edu.
