ABSTRACT
Abrams v. United States, 250 U.S. 616 (1919), is one of a number of cases in which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the conviction of individuals who criticized the U.S. government and its policies during World War I against challenges that these convictions violated the freedom of speech and press protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution. Jacob Abrams and fellow defendants were anarchists and/or socialists who had immigrated to the United States from Russia. After printing and distributing materials that were especially critical of U.S. military intervention in Russia, they were convicted in a U.S. district court of violating an amended provision of the Espi-onage Act of 1917 that punished conspiracy to print abusive language about the form of the U.S. government, to bring it into scorn or contempt, or to interfere with its recruiting service.
