What was the clear and present danger test in Schenck v. United States?

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First Amendment Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution.

In Schenck v. United States (1919), the U.S. Supreme Court established the clear and present danger test to determine when freedom of speech protections under the First Amendment may be restricted.1

Writing for a unanimous Court, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. argued that speech otherwise protected by the Constitution can be prohibited if the words are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a "clear and present danger" that they will bring about substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent.1

The case arose after Charles T. Schenck was convicted under the Espionage Act for distributing leaflets encouraging men to resist the military draft during World War I. The Court upheld his conviction, ruling that his actions posed a danger to the military and the United States. While this test was later superseded in the 1920s by the broader "bad tendency" doctrine, it remains a foundational concept in American constitutional law.1