Free Speech and National Security

Indiana Law Journal

Volumn 84, Issue 3, 2009, Pages 939-962

  Stone, Geoffrey R ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO LAW SCHOOL   (United States)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 68949135133     PISSN: 00196665     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Conference Paper

References (157)

1. See JAMES ROGER SHARP, AMERICAN POLITICS IN THE EARLY REPUBLIC: THE NEW NATION IN CRISIS 5 (1993).
2. See RICHARD H. KOHN, EAGLE AND SWORD: THE FEDERALISTS AND THE CREATION OF THE MILITARY ESTABLISHMENT IN AMERICA, 1783-1802, at 195 (1975).
3. See JAMES MORTON SMITH, FREEDOM'S FETTERS: THE ALIEN AND SEDITION LAWS AND AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES 8 (1956);
4. GEOFFREY R. STONE, PERILOUS TIMES: FREE SPEECH IN WARTIME: FROM THE SEDITION ACT OF 1798 TO THE WAR ON TERRORISM 21-23 (2004).
5. STANLEY ELKTNS & ERIC MCKITRICK, THE AGE OF FEDERALISM 584 (1993).
6. See An Act for the Punishment of Certain Crimes Against the United States, ch. 74,1 Stat. 596 (1798) (expired 1801).
7. See 2 ABRIDGEMENT OF THE DEBATES OF CONGRESS FROM 1789 TO 1856, at 257 (1857).
8. 5 ANNALS OF CONG. 2097 (1798).
9. FRANCIS WHARTON, STATE TRIALS OF THE UNITED STATES DURING THE ADMINISTRATIONS OF WASHINGTON AND ADAMS 333 (1849).
10. Id. at 333-37.
11. STONE, supra note 3, at 71-73.
12. CONG. GLOBE, 26th Cong, 1st Sess. 411 (1840).
13. N.Y. Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 276 (1964).
14. 5 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 436-37 (Roy P. Basler ed, 1953).
15. Compare MARK E. NEELY, JR, THE FATE OF LIBERTY: ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND CIVIL LIBERTIES 113 (1991) (concluding that the best estimate is near the upper end of this range),
16. with WILLIAM H. REHNQUIST, ALL THE LAWS BUT ONE: CIVIL LIBERTIES IN WARTIME 49-50 (1998) (estimating 13,000).
17. See NEELY, supra note 14, at 26-28, 44, 131-38;
18. Paul Finkelman, Civil Liberties and Civil War: The Great Emancipator as Civil Libertarian, 91 MICH. L. REV. 1353, 1361 (1993).
19. STONE, supra note 3, at 101; THE TRIAL OF HON. CLEMENT L. VALLANDIGHAM, BY A MILITARY COMMISSION 11-12 (Cincinnati, Rickey & Carroll 1863).
20. FRANK L. KLEMENT, THE LIMITS OF DISSENT 154 (1998).
21. Exparte Vallandigham, 28 F. Cas. 874, 875 (C.C.S.D. Ohio 1863) (No. 16,816).
22. Frank J. Williams, When Albany Challenged the President, N.Y. ARCHIVES MAG, Winter 2009, at 31,33 (quoting The Arrest of Vallandigham, ALBANY ATLAS & ARGUS, May 8, 1863), available at http://www.archives.nysed.gov/apt/magazine/documents/ archivesmag-wmter09-Williarm.pdf.
23. MICHAEL KENT CURTIS, FREE SPEECH, "THE PEOPLE'S DARLING PRIVILEGE": STRUGGLES FOR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN AMERICAN HISTORY 320 (2000).
24. The Military Discretion, DETROIT FREE PRESS, June 10,1863, at 2.
25. See Ohio Democratic State Convention, CINCINNATI DAILY COM, June 12,1863, at 2.
26. Abraham Lincoln, Reply to the Ohio Democratic Convention (June 29, 1868), in ABRAHAM LINCOLN: SPEECHES AND WRITINGS, 1859-1865, at 468 (Don E. Fehrenbacher ed, 1989).
27. STONE, supra note 3, at 109.
28. KLEMENT, supra note 17, at 178-79.
29. STONE, supra note 3, at 110 (citation omitted).
30. 3 CARL SANDBURG, ABRAHAM LINCOLN: THE WAR YEARS 389-90 (1939).
31. The President and His Critics, CINCINNATI GAZETTE, Nov. 29, 1862, at 1.
32. Id.
33. See EDWARD M. COFFMAN, THE WAR TO END ALL WARS: THE AMERICAN MILITARY EXPERIENCE IN WORLD WAR I, at 25 ( 1968).
34. PAUL L. MURPHY, WORLD WAR I AND THE ORIGIN OF CIVIL LIBERTIES IN THE UNITED STATES 53 (1979).
35. Espionage Act of 1917, ch. 30, tit. I, §3, 40 Stat. 217, 219.
36. See Geoffrey R. Stone, Judge Learned Hand and the Espionage Act of 1917: A Mystery Unraveled, 70 U. CHI. L. REV. 335, 345-54 (2003).
37. All Disloyal Men Warned by Gregory, N.Y. TIMES, Nov. 21, 1917, at 3;
38. see also ROBERT J. GOLDSTEIN, POLITICAL REPRESSION IN MODERN AMERICA: FROM 1870 TO THE PRESENT 108 (1978).
39. 255 F. 886 (9th Cir. 1919).
40. Id at 887.
41. Id at 887-89.
42. See, e.g., Goldstein v. United States, 258 F. 908 (9th Cir. 1919); Coldwell v. United States, 256 F. 805 (1st Cir. 1919);
43. Kirchner v. United States, 255 F. 301 (4th Cir. 1918); Deason v. United States, 254 F. 259 (5th Cir. 1918);
44. Doe v. United States, 253 F. 903 (8th Cir 1918); O'Hare v. United States, 253 F. 538 (8th Cir. 1918); Masses Publ'gCo. v. Patten, 246 F 24 (2d Cir. 1917) (reversing Judge Hand's opinion); United States v. Nagler, 252 F. 217 W.D. Wis. 1918); United States v. Motion Picture Film "The Spirit of 76," 252 F. 946 (S.D. Cal 1917). For additional citations, see DAVID M. RABBAN, FREE SPEECH IN ITS FORGOTTEN YEARS 256-59 (1997).
45. See RABBAN, supra note 38, at 257.
46. Stokes v. United States, 264 F. 18,20(8thCir. 1920) (emphasis in original). For a brief background on the Stokes trial, see HORACE C. PETERSON & GILBERT C. FITE, OPPONENTS OF WAR: 1917-1918, at 185-86 (1957).
47. On March 9,1920, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Mrs. Stokes's conviction, ruling that that district judge had gone "too far in his charge to the jury" because of his inappropriate "partisan zeal." Stokes, 264 F. at 26. On November 15, 1921, the government finally dismissed the charges against Stokes. Mrs. Stokes Freed; Debs May Soon Be, N.Y. TIMES, NOV. 16, 1921, at 5.
48. See ESPIONAGE ACT CASES: WITH CERTAIN OTHERS ON RELATED POINTS 48 (Walter Nellesed, 1918).
49. ZECHARIAH CHAFEE, JR, FREE SPEECH IN THE UNITED STATES 52 (1941).
50. Gilbert v. Minnesota, 254 U.S. 325 (1920); Pierce v. United States, 252 U.S. 239 (1920); Schaefer v. United States, 251 U.S. 466 (1920); Abrams v. United States, 250 U.S. 616 (1919); Debs v. United States, 249 U.S. 211 (1919);
51. Frohwerk v. United States, 249 U.S. 204 (1919); Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47 (1919).
52. Abrams, 250 U.S. at 616;
53. see also PETERSON & FITE, supra note 40, at 228-29 (containing background information on Molly Steimer, a co-defendant in Abrams).
54. Debs, 249 U.S. at 211 ;
55. see also PETERSON & FITE, supra note 40, at 248-55 (containing background information on Eugene V. Debs).
56. See, e.g., Gilbert, 254 U.S. at 335 (Brandeis, J, dissenting);
57. Pierce, 252 U.S. at 253 (Brandeis, J., dissenting);
58. Schaefer, 251 U.S. at 482 (Brandeis, J. dissenting);
59. Abrams, 250 U.S. at 624 (Holmes, J, dissenting).
60. HARRY KALVEN, JR, A WORTHY TRADITION: FREEDOM OF SPEECH IN AMERICA 147 (Jamie Kalven ed, 1988).
61. Id.
62. SIDNEY FINE, FRANK MURPHY: THE WASHINGTON YEARS 117-18 (1984).
63. 86 CONG. REC. app. at 1840 (1940).
64. RICHARD W. STEELE, FREE SPEECH IN THE GOOD WAR 148 (1999).
65. FRANCIS BIDDLE, IN BRIEF AUTHORITY 235 (1962).
66. Sedition Cases Dropped, N.Y. TIMES, Dec. 21,1941.
67. BIDDLE, supra note 52, at 234-35.
68. STEELE, supra note 51, at 143-44.
69. Id. at 144.
70. BIDDLE, supra note 52, at 237-38.
71. STEELE, supra note 51, at 151.
72. H.R. REP.NO. 76-1476, at 18-21 (1940).
73. See STONE, supra note 3, at 261-62;
74. see also MARGARET A. BLANCHARD, REVOLUTIONARY SPARKS: FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN MODERN AMERICA 203 (1992).
75. United States v. Pelley, 132 F.2d 170, 173 (7th Cir. 1942) (citation omitted) (emphasis added).
76. Id. at 175 n.2.
77. See LEO P. RIBUFFO, THE OLD CHRISTIAN RIGHT: THE PROTESTANT FAR RIGHT FROM THE GREAT DEPRESSION TO THE COLD WAR 78-79 (1983).
78. See STEELE, supra note 51, at 206-08. Pelley died on July 1, 1965, in Noblesville, Indiana.
79. STONE, supra note 3, at 265-66.
80. William M. Wiecek, The Legal Foundations of Domestic Anticommunism: The Background of 'Dennis v. United States, 2001 SUP. CT. REV. 375, 428.
81. See id. at 429.
82. See DAVID CAUTE, THE GREAT FEAR: THE ANTI-COMMUNIST PURGE UNDER TRUMAN AND EISENHOWER 26-27 (1978).
83. Communist Control Act of 1954, ch. 886, 68 Stat. 775 (codified as amended in scattered sections of 50 U.S.C).
84. See generally RALPH S. BROWN, JR, LOYALTY AND SECURITY: EMPLOYMENT TESTS IN THE UNITED STATES (1958);
85. CAUTE, supra note 67;
86. FRANK J. DONNER, THE AGE OF SURVEILLANCE: THE AIMS AND METHODS OF AMERICA'S POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE SYSTEM (1980);
87. ATHAN G. THEOHARIS, SPYING ON AMERICANS: POLITICAL SURVEILLANCE FROM HOOVER TO THE HUSTON PLAN (1978).
88. 341 U.S. 494 (1951).
89. See Alien Registration (Smith) Act of 1940, ch. 439, §§2, 3, 5, 54 Stat. 670-71 (codified as amended at 18 U.S.C. §2385 (2006)) (declaring it unlawful for any person to "teach[] the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying [any] government [in] the United States ... by force or violence").
90. See Geoffrey R. Stone, Dialogue, in ETERNALLY VIGILANT: FREE SPEECH IN THE MODERN ERA 7, 8 (Lee C Bollinger & Geoffrey R. Stone eds, 2002) ("[0]ne might say that the Court learns just enough to correct the mistakes of the past, but never quite enough to avoid the mistakes of the present.").
91. Dennis, 341 U.S. at 510-11.
92. See Konigsberg v. State Bar, 366 U.S. 36 (1961) (bar).
93. See Gerende v. Bd. of Supervisors of Elections, 341 U.S. 56 (1951) (ballot).
94. See, e.g., Communist Party v. Subversive Activities Control Bd, 367 U.S. 1 (1961) (upholding the Subversive Activities Control Act's requirement that Communist and Communist-front organizations register with the government); Adler v. Bd. of Educ, 342 U.S 485 (1952) (upholding a New York law providing that no person who knowingly becomes a member of any organization that advocates the violent overthrow of government may be appointed to any position in apublic school); Barenblatt v. United States, 360 U.S. 109 (1949) (upholding the power of the House Committee on Un-American Activities to require an instructor at Vassar College to answer questions about his past and present membership in the Communist Party).
95. See Gibson v. Fla. Legislative Investigation Comm, 372 U.S 539 (1963).
96. Lamont v. Postmaster Gen, 381 U.S. 301 (1965).
97. See United States v. Robel, 389 U.S. 258 (1967); Keyishian v. Bd. of Regents, 385 U.S. 589 (1967); Elfbrandt v. Russell, 384 U.S. 11 (1966).
98. See Konigsberg v. State Bar, 366 U.S. 36 (1961); Schware v. Bd. of Bar Exam'rs, 353 U.S. 232 (1957).
99. TODD GITLIN, THE SIXTIES: YEARS OF HOPE, DAYS OF RAGE 414-15 (1987).
100. HENRY A. KISSINGER, WHITE HOUSE YEARS 513 (1979).
101. GITLLN, supra note81, at415.
102. 395 U.S. 444 (1969).
103. See Frank R. Strong, Fifty Years of "Clear and Present Danger": From Schenck to Brandenburg-And Beyond, 1969 SUP. CT. REV. 41.
104. See DONNER, supra note 69, at 178-84;
105. THEOHARIS, supra note 69, at 133-52.
106. SENATE SELECT COMM. TO STUDY GOVERNMENTAL OPERATIONS WITH RESPECT TO INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES, INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES AND THE RIGHTS OF AMERICANS: BOOK II: FINAL REPORT, S. REP. No. 94-755, at 5-7 (1976), available at http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/contents/church/contents- church-reports-book2.htm.
107. Department of Justice Oversight: Preserving Our Freedoms While Defending Against Terrorism: Hearing Before the S. Comm. on the Judiciary, 107th Cong. 313 (2001) (statement of John D. Ashcroft, Att'y Gen. of the United States).
108. See generally Richard C. Leone, The Quiet Republic: The Missing Debate About Civil Liberties After 9/11, in THE WAR ON OUR FREEDOMS : CIVIL LIBERTIES IN AN AGE OF TERRORISM 1, 8 (Richard C. Leone & Greg Anrig, Jr. eds, 2003);
109. Anthony Lewis, Security and Liberty: Preserving the Values of Freedom, in THE WAR ON OUR FREEDOMS: CIVIL LIBERTIES IN AN AGE OF TERRORISM, supra, at 47,50.
110. Leone, supra note 88, at 1, 5.
111. See JOHN ASHCROFT, U.S. ATTORNEY GEN, THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S GUIDELINES ON GENERAL CRIMES, RACKETEERING ENTERPRISE AND TERRORISM ENTERPRISE INVESTIGATION, pt. VI(A)-(B), at21-23 (2002), availableat http://www.usdoj.gov/olp/generalcrimes2.pdf; Neil A. Lewis, Traces of Terror: The Inquiry, Ashcroft Permits F.B.I, to Monitor Internet and Public Activities, N.Y. TIMES, May 31, 2002, at A20.
112. See Vincent Blasi, The Pathological Perspective and the First Amendment, 85 COLUM. L. REV. 449 (1985).
113. 55 CONG. REC. 1695 (1917) (discussing H.R. 291, 65th Cong. tit. I §4 (1917)).
114. Id. at 1861 (reprinting letter from American Newspaper Publishers' Association).
115. Id.
116. Id. at 1590 (statement of Rep. Edwin Webb).
117. Id. at 1591.
118. Id. at 1590-91.
119. Id. at 1591 (statement of Rep. Simeon Fess).
120. Id. at 2097 (statement of Sen. Hiram Johnson).
121. Id. at 1773 (statement of Rep. Martin B. Madden).
122. Wilson Demands Press Censorship, N.Y. TIMES, May 23, 1917, at 1 (quoting letter from Woodrow Wilson to Rep. Webb).
123. H.R. Res. 895, 110th Cong. (2006), 152 CONG. REC. H4875, H4876 (daily ed. June 29, 2006).
124. The article that precipitated the resolution was published in the New York Times on June 23, 2006.
125. See Eric Lichtblau & James Risen, Bank Data Sifted in Secret by U.S. to Block Terror, N.Y. TIMES, June 23, 2006, at Al, available at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/23/ washmgton/23mtel.html? scp=3&sq=arrantless%20surveiUanœ%20%22june%2023,%202006% 22&st=cse.
126. 18 U.S.C. § 793(e) (2006);
127. see Michael Barone, Blowback on the Press, U.S. NEWS & WORLD REP, May 8, 2006, at 39;
128. Rick Klein, House Votes to Condemn Media Over Terror Story, BOSTON GLOBE, June 30,2006, at Al;
129. Walter Pincus, Senator May Seek Tougher Law on Leaks, WASH. POST, Feb. 17, 2006, at A04;
130. David Remnick, Nattering Nabobs, NEW YORKER, July 10, 2006, at 33-34 (noting that the New York Times won the Pulitzer Prize for journalism for publishing these stories).
131. 403 U.S. 713 (1971).
132. Id. at 730 (Stewart, J., concurring). Although the Pentagon Papers case involved a prior restraint, it seems reasonable to conclude that essentially the same standard would apply in a criminal prosecution of the New York Times for publishing the information.
133. See GEOFFREY R. STONE, TOP SECRET: WHEN GOVERNMENT KEEPS US IN THE DARK 22-24 (2007).
134. The NSA surveillance program involved an additional twist, for there is good reason to believe that the program itself was unlawful. Although the issue has never arisen, it is difficult to believe that the Supreme Court would ever sustain a criminal prosecution for the public disclosure of unlawful government actions. See STONE, supra note 105, at 24-26;
135. GEOFFREYR. STONE, WAR AND LIBERTY: AN AMERICAN DILEMMA: 1790 TO THE PRESENT 143-63 (2007).
136. See,e.g., Houchins v.KQED, Inc., 438U.S.1 (1978) (holding that news media have no constitutional right of access to a county jail);
137. Pell v. Procunier, 417 U.S. 817 (1974) (holding that there is no right of the press to interview prisoners);
138. Lillian R. BeVier, An Informed Public, an Informing Press: The Search for a Constitutional Principle, 68 CAL. L. REV. 482 (1980).
139. 391 U.S. 563, 568 (1968).
140. 444 U.S. 507 (1980).
141. Id. at 508.
142. Id. at 511-12.
143. See STONE, supra note 105, at 10-14.
144. ALEXANDER M. BICKEL, THE MORALITY OF CONSENT 80 ( 1975).
145. See id. at 79-82.
146. STONE, supra note 105, at 22.
147. See, e.g., Exec. Order No. 12,958, 60 Fed. Reg. 19,825 (Apr. 17, 1995) (President Clinton Executive Order).
148. This Executive Order was revised by Exec. Order No. 13,292, 68 Fed. Reg. 15,315 (Mar. 25,2003) (President Bush Executive Order).
149. John Podesta, Need to Know: Governing in Secret, in THE WAR ON OUR FREEDOMS: CIVIL LIBERTIES IN AN AGE OF TERRORISM, supra note 88, at 220,227.
150. Enacted in 1966, the Freedom of Information Act, Pub. L. No. 89-487, 80 Stat. 250 (1966) (codified as amended at 5 U.S.C. § 552 (2006)), establishes the public's right to obtain information from federal government agencies.
151. See, e.g., Leone, supra note 88, at 1, 9;
152. Podesta, supra note 117, at 220-25;
153. John F. Stacks, Watchdogs on a Leash: Closing Doors on the Media, in THE WAR ON OUR FREEDOMS: CIVIL LIBERTIES IN AN AGE OF TERRORISM, supra note 88, at 237, 237.
154. Stephen J. Schulhofer, No Checks, No Balance: Discarding Bedrock Constitutional Principles, in THE WAR ON OUR FREEDOMS: CIVIL LIBERTIES IN AN AGE OF TERRORISM, supra note 88, at 74, 91.
155. On the secrecy of deportation hearings, compare Detroit Free Press v. Ashcroft, 303 F.3d 681 (6th Cir. 2002) (holding that a closed hearing was unconstitutional),
156. with N. Jersey Media Group v. Ashcroft, 308 F.3d 198 (3d Cir. 2002) (holding that a closed hearing was constitutional).
157. Podesta, supra note 117, at 220, 225.