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Simple English definitions for legal terms

clear and present danger

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A quick definition of clear and present danger:

The clear and present danger test is a rule used to determine if a particular speech is protected by the First Amendment. It originated in a court case called Schenck v. the United States. The test has two conditions: the speech must pose a real threat of causing harm, and the harm must be imminent. The rule has been applied in cases involving criminal prosecutions, picketing, and incitement to commit crimes, among others. However, it does not apply to cases involving antitrust laws, libel, or school property use. The test was further clarified in cases like Brandenburg v. Ohio and Hess v. Indiana.

A more thorough explanation:

The clear and present danger test is a standard used to determine whether a particular speech is protected by the First Amendment or not. It originated in the case of Schenck v. the United States and states that speech may not be restrained or punished unless it creates a clear and present danger of bringing about a substantial evil.

The clear and present danger test has two conditions: the speech must pose a threat of a substantive evil, and the threat must be real and imminent. The court must identify and quantify both the nature of the threatened evil and the imminence of the perceived danger.

The clear and present danger test has been applied in cases involving criminal prosecutions for opposition to war, statutes penalizing the advocacy of the overthrow of the government by force or violence, attacks on courts or judges, picketing, regulation of prison inmates' access to newspapers, periodicals, and so forth, incitement to commit crimes, and breach of the peace or disorderly conduct.

However, the rule has been held not applicable to cases involving antitrust laws, libel cases, statutes regulating the conduct of labor union affairs, statutes governing the use of school property for non-school purposes, and demonstrations in an inappropriate place, such as before a courthouse.

In Brandenburg v. Ohio, the defendant, a leader of a Ku Klux Klan, had arranged for a television station to cover his speech at a Klan rally. Ohio’s court ruled that the statement falls into the scope of clear and present danger.

In Hess v. Indiana, an anti-war demonstrator had been arrested for stating, “We'll take the fucking street later.” A majority of the Court reversed his conviction. The United States Supreme Court ruled that the statement is not a “clear and present danger” because the statement does not impose an imminent danger to society.

These examples illustrate how the clear and present danger test is used to determine whether speech is protected by the First Amendment or not. The Brandenburg case shows that speech that poses a clear and present danger can be restricted, while the Hess case shows that speech that does not pose an imminent danger cannot be restricted.

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texaslawhopefully
22:30
@KnowledgeableRitzyWasp: That all sounds great. It sounds like it has fairly diverse cuisine for a smaller city
yeah there are so many good cuisines in ithaca
renard99
22:31
@lilypadfrog: that’s a pity I’da be liking them all
texaslawhopefully
22:31
Only food I’m going to miss for sure if I leave Texas is texmex
22:31
waspy hasnt had thai food in ithaca yet. ithaca thai is so good
^^^^ truuuuuu
22:32
there are two major thai places and they have very similar names bc a divorced husband and wife own them lol
22:32
personally i think taste of thai is better than taste of thai express but thats just me
i had pho tho and it was really good and huge portions
texaslawhopefully
22:32
Glad they have good Thai food, I love Thai food! Can’t wait to visit :)
22:33
when tex goes to ithaca i want to come
Dkk
22:34
Crying Tiger, best Thai dish.
damn im so hungry all i had today was a curry tonkatsu and buldak
and it was a lil baby noodle cup
vvv hungry
22:36
curry tonkatsu so yummeh
22:36
whats even open rn? pizza?
CTB is it i think
22:37
is collegetown pizza not open
22:37
i used to get a slice from there or wings over at like 1am after my shift at the restaurant
Dkk
22:48
Ross Ulbricht free. God Bless Trump. Huge win.
JeremyFragrance
22:54
agreed
texaslawhopefully
22:55
This is an interesting read: https://thedispatch.com/article/birthright-citizenship-trump-implications/
Dkk
23:01
I mean, idk how it's possible to end birth right citizenship without amending the constitution because to me the 14th amendment is pretty clear about it.
ross ulbricht tried to hire a hitman to kill 5 people
i am not that sympathetic to him
Dkk
23:04
@KnowledgeableRitzyWasp: That might have been an FBI agent. It was most likely him and he was most likely doing it to retrieve stolen funds that corrupt FBI agents stole, but yeah moral gray area but me personally, cool with hitmen. It's not like it is uncommon to hire hitmen. I don't think the action itself is necessarily wrong but the intent behind it can be.
Dkk
23:05
Like, Boeing whistblowers being killed by hitmen = wrong but a guy hiring hitmen to retrieve stolen funds = good to me.
texaslawhopefully
23:05
@Dkk: Yeah, for sure. My guess is it'll go to SCOTUS and it'll be 8-1 or 7-2, saying that EO was unconstitutional.
Dkk
23:06
Indeed. I need a count for how many exectuive orders he has signed and how many already have pending lawsuits.
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