Espionage Act of 1917
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The Espionage Act of 1917 is a United States federal law passed on 15 June 1917, shortly after the US entry into World War I. The Act was originally found in Title 50 of the US Code (War) but is now found under Title 18 (Crime), and has been amended numerous times over the years.
The Espionage Act of 1917 was intended to prohibit interference with military operations or recruitment, to prevent insubordination in the military, and to prevent the support of United States enemies during wartime. In 1919, the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously ruled through Schenck v. United States that the Act did not violate the freedom of speech of those convicted under its provisions. The constitutionality of the law, its relationship to free speech, and the meaning of its language have been contested in court ever since. Although the most controversial sections of the Act, a set of amendments commonly called the Sedition Act of 1918, were repealed on 3 March 1921, the original Espionage Act was left intact.[1]
Among those charged with offences under the Act are:
- German-American socialist congressman and newspaper editor Victor L. Berger;
- Labour leader and five-time Socialist Party of America candidate, Eugene V. Debs;
- Anarchists Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman;
- Former Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society president Joseph Franklin Rutherford; (Rutherford's conviction was overturned on appeal.)[2]
- Communists Julius and Ethel Rosenberg;
- Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg;
- Cablegate whistleblower Chelsea Manning;
- National Security Agency (NSA) contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden; and,
- Wikileaks publisher Julian Assange.[3]
References
- ↑ Vaughn, Stephen L. (ed.) (2007), Encyclopedia of American Journalism, Routledge, London, ISBN 0415969506, p. 155.
- ↑ Rogerson, Alan (1969), Millions Now Living Will Never Die, Constable, London, ISBN 0-09-455940-6, full text at [1]
- ↑ "WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange charged with violating Espionage Act"
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