Did Debs v United States protect free speech during wartime?

Scholars generally view Debs v. United States (1919), which upheld his conviction in the Supreme Court, as a low-water mark in the protection of free speech during wartime. (Image via Library of Congress, public domain) Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. authored the unanimous Supreme Court decision in Debs v.

What was Debs v United States?

Debs v. United States, 249 U.S. 211 (1919), was a United States Supreme Court decision, relevant for US labor law and constitutional law, that upheld the Espionage Act of 1917 . Eugene V. Debs was an American labor and political leader and five-time Socialist Party of America candidate for the American Presidency.

Who authored the Supreme Court decision in Debs v United States?

Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. authored the unanimous Supreme Court decision in Debs v. United States, 249 U.S. 211 (1919), sustaining socialist leader Eugene V. Debs’s conviction under the Sedition Act of 1918. Debs was a well-known public figure; he had received almost 1 million votes when he ran for President in 1912.