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Schaefer v. United States, 251 U.S. 466 (1920)
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General SummaryThis case is from a collection containing the full text of over 16,000 Supreme Court cases from 1793 to the present. The body of Supreme Court decisions are, effectively, the final interpretation of the Constitution. Only an amendment to the Constitution can permanently overturn an interpretation and this has happened only four times in American history.
Schaefer v. United States, 251 U.S. 466 (1920)
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Schaefer v. United States No. 270-274 Argued October 21, 1919 Decided March 1, 1920 251 U.S. 466
ERROR TO THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA
Syllabus
The Espionage Act is constitutional. P. 470. Sugarman v. United States, 249 U.S. 182.
As applied to any of several defendant in a criminal case, the provision of Jud.Code, § 287, that all shall be deemed a single party for the purpose of peremptory challenges, is constitutional. P. 470. Stilson v. United States, 250 U.S. 583.
In a prosecution of several under the Espionage Act, held that the evidence was sufficient to warrant conviction as to some but not as to the others. Pp. 470, 478.
In a prosecution under the Espionage Act for willfully making and conveying false reports and statements with intent to promote the success of Germany and obstruct the recruiting and enlistment service of the United States to the injury of the United States in the war with Germany, where there was evidence that persons conducting a German language newspaper systematically took news despatches from other papers and published them with omissions, additions, and changes, held that the falsity of such publications, within the meaning of the statute, depended on the fact and purpose of the alterations and the resulting tendency of the article to weaken zeal and patriotism, and thus hamper the United States in raising armies and conducting the war, that the determination of such falsity, the evidence being sufficient, was clearly for the jury and not for the court, and that the court rightly allowed the jury to have recourse to their general knowledge of the war and war conditions in making such determination. P. 471.
The constitutional provision as to liberty of speech and press does not require or authorize the court, wherever criminal abuse of those rights is charged, to override a verdict of guilty by substituting its own opinion of the evidence for that of the jury. P. 474.
Evidence sufficient to sustain any one of several counts will sustain a conviction and sentence upon all if the sentence does not exceed that which might lawfully have been imposed under any one of them. P. 482. Abrams v. United States, 250 U.S. 616.
254 F. 135 affirmed in part and reversed in part.
The case is stated in the opinion.
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Chicago: U.S. Supreme Court, "Syllabus," Schaefer v. United States, 251 U.S. 466 (1920) in 251 U.S. 466 251 U.S. 467–251 U.S. 468. Original Sources, accessed November 22, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=LJPYTZSCZDU6XZ2.
MLA: U.S. Supreme Court. "Syllabus." Schaefer v. United States, 251 U.S. 466 (1920), in 251 U.S. 466, pp. 251 U.S. 467–251 U.S. 468. Original Sources. 22 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=LJPYTZSCZDU6XZ2.
Harvard: U.S. Supreme Court, 'Syllabus' in Schaefer v. United States, 251 U.S. 466 (1920). cited in 1920, 251 U.S. 466, pp.251 U.S. 467–251 U.S. 468. Original Sources, retrieved 22 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=LJPYTZSCZDU6XZ2.
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