May 18, 2013
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Description
The Espionage Act of 1917 is a United States law passed on June 15, 1917, shortly after the U.S. entry into World War I. It has been amended numerous times over the years. It was originally found in Title 50 of the U.S. Code but is now found under Title 18, Crime. Specifically it is 18 U.S.C. ยง792 et seq.
It originally prohibited any attempt to interfere with military operations, to support U.S. enemies during wartime, to promote insubordination in the military, or to interfere with military recruitment. In 1919, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in 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 the law's language have been contested in court ever since.
Among those who have been charged with offenses under the Act are former Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society president Joseph Franklin Rutherford, communists Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, and alleged cablegate whistleblower Bradley Manning. Rutherford's conviction was overturned on appeal. The most controversial sections of the Act, including the original section 3, under which Rutherford was convicted, were repealed in 1921.
(via Freebase)
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