"[T] he gravity of the `evil'as discounted by its improbability, justifies such invasion of free speech as is necessary to avoid the danger. "

It is a conspiratorial organization dedicated to the overthrow of the Government of the United States by force.

—reaffirming the "clear and present danger" formula as the standard for evaluating content-based restrictions on speech, but watering it down to a holistic balancing test as suggested by judge Learned Hand at the circuit level

As Judge Learned Hand observed, "it is a practical impossibility for laymen, and for that matter for most judges, to keep their minds in the isolated compartments that this requires."

This court must weigh the gravity of the crime against its improbability to decide whether an invasion of First Amendment rights is justified to prevent the danger presented.

—deciding whether to admit hearsay statements made by conspirators against their co-conspirators "** we think that the better doctrine is that the judge is always to decide, as concededly he generally must, any issues of fact on which the competence of evidence depends, and that, if he decides it to be competent, he is to leave it to the jury to use like any other evidence …

"It is difficult to see what value the declarations could have as proof" of a joint venture if before using them the jury had already to be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the declarant and the defendant were joined in a common undertaking to commit a crime.

According to Judge Learned Hand: "Courts have countenanced the use of informers from time immemorial; in cases of conspiracy, or in other cases when the crime consists of preparing for another crime, it is usually necessary to rely on them or upon accomplices because the criminals will almost certainly proceed covertly."