Prosecutions under the Espionage Act (1917)and the Sedition Act (1918)can be characterized in all of the following ways except
A) antiwar socialists and labor leaders were visibly targeted.
B) 1,900 Americans were prosecuted under these laws.
C) the laws meant that any criticism of the government could be censored and punished.
D) the Supreme Court ruled that they were unconstitutional violations of free speech.
E) after the war, President Harding issued pardons to many of those prosecuted, including labor leader Eugene Debs.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The statement that the Supreme Court ruled that the Espionage Act and Sedition Act were unconstitutional violations of free speech is incorrect. In fact, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Espionage Act in cases such as Schenck v. United States (1919) and Abrams v. United States (1919). It was not until later court cases that certain aspects of the Espionage Act were struck down as unconstitutional. However, the Sedition Act was allowed to expire in 1920 and was never specifically ruled on by the Supreme Court.

Prosecutions Under the Espionage Act (1917)and the Sedition Act (1918)can