Dennis v. United States
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|
| Dennis v. United States |
Supreme Court of the United States
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Argued December 4, 1950
Decided June 4, 1951
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| Full case name: |
Eugene Dennis, et al. v. United States |
| Citations: |
341 U.S. 494; 71 S. Ct. 857; 95 L. Ed. 1137; 1951 U.S. LEXIS 2407 |
| Prior history: |
Motion by co-defendant to dismiss attorney denied, 9 F.R.D. 367 (S.D.N.Y. 1949); defendants convicted,
S.D.N.Y., 10-29-49; affirmed, 183 F.2d 201 (2nd Cir. 1950) |
| Subsequent history: |
Rehearing denied, 342 U.S. 842 (1951); rehearing denied, 355 U.S. 936 (1958) |
|
| Holding |
| Defendants' convictions for conspiring, through their participation in the Communist Party, to overthrow the U.S. government
by force were not prohibited by the First Amendment. |
| Court membership |
| Chief Justice: Fred Vinson |
| Associate Justices: Hugo Black, Stanley Reed, Felix Frankfurter, William O. Douglas, Robert Jackson, Harold Burton,
Tom Clark, Sherman Minton |
|
| Case opinions |
| Plurality by: Vinson |
| Joined by: Reed, Burton, Minton |
| Concurrence by: Frankfurter |
| Concurrence by: Jackson |
| Dissent by: Black |
| Dissent by: Douglas |
| Clark took no part in the consideration or decision of the case |
|
| Laws applied |
| U.S. Const. amend. I; 18 U.S.C. ยงยง 10, 11 (1946) |
Dennis v. United States, 341 U.S. 494 (1951) was a United States Supreme Court case
involving Eugene Dennis, general secretary of the Communist
Party, USA and dealing with citizens' rights under the First
Amendment to the Constitution of
the United States.
The Case
George W. Crockett, Jr., Abraham J. Isserman and Harry Sacher argued the cause for petitioners. With them on the brief was
Richard Gladstein.
Solicitor General Perlman and Irving S. Shapiro argued the cause for the United States. With them on the brief were Attorney
General McGrath, Assistant Attorney General McInerney, Irving H. Saypol, Robert W. Ginnane, Frank H. Gordon, Edward C. Wallace
and Lawrence K. Bailey.
The Decision
Handed down as a 6-2 decision by the Court on June 1951, the judge and a plurality opinion ruled against the plaintiff, a
leader of the Communist Party in the United States, convicted for teaching, conspiring and organizing for the willful overthrow and
destruction of the United States government by force and violence, under provisions of the Smith Act.
External links
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