So long as the jury could reasonably find that “the words used had as their natural tendency and reasonably probable effect to obstruct the recruiting service

—upholding the ten-year prison sentence issued to Socialist Party presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs for giving a campaign speech opposing American involvement in World War I

Since the petition in this case was filed, it has also become settled that the Espionage Act is a valid, constitutional law.

In Debs, the Court upheld the conviction of Socialist Party leader and anti-war activist Eugene Debs under the Espionage Act

Nor do we rely on World War I-era laws that criminalized political dissent to determine the scope of the First Amendment

Debs had declared "[Y] ou need to know that you are fit for something better than slavery and cannon fodder

Under that test, "[t] he question in every case" is whether the speech was "of such a nature" and "used in such circumstances... as to create a clear and present danger that [it] w [ould] bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent."

When the socialist labour leader Eugene Debs made a speech critical of United States involvement in the First World War, the court was content to uphold his conviction for “wilfully caus [ing] or attempt [ing] to cause... insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty, in the military or naval forces... or... wilfully obstruct [ing]... the recruiting Or enlistment service”:

For an excellent discussion of the reasons that may underlie American free speech exceptionalism, see Schauer (n. 1 above), 43–53.

The historical information in this paragraph is gleaned from The Reader's COMPANION TO AMERICAN HISTORY (Eric Foner & John A. Garrity eds. 1991); THE TIMETABLES OF HISTORY: A HORIZONTAL LINKAGE OF PEOPLE AND EVENTS (Bernard Grun ed. 1979); ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES (Edwin RA Seligman ed. 1937). 85.