RIGHT TO CRITICISE IN WAR TIME
Right to Criticise in War Time A Noted Charge by Clarence W. Sessions, Judge of the Western District of Michigan, on the Right of Speech AS WE PROCEED m this war the political rights of the...
...Every citizen has the right to have and to express an opinion opposed to the principle of conscription, either before o.r after the enactment of the Selective Draft or Conscription Act approved on the 18th day of last May...
...Louis Convention of the Socialist Party in April of this year...
...Neither socialism, the Socialist Party, nor any member of the Socialist Party, as such, is here on trial...
...and if he does either of these things he himself is guilty of crime and may be punished...
...So far as this trial is concerned, there was but one course of conduct which these respondents could not pursue, and that was the course complained of in this case, namely: conspiring to preNo Real Difference THERE is, and of course can be, no real difference of opinion concerning the duty of the citizen to discharge to the last limit whatever obligation the war lays upon him...
...At such a time, the mere suspicion of guilt often brings down upon its object a strong feeling of public indignation, attended perhaps with the most serious consequences to the suspected person...
...But every rational and intelligent person is presumed to intend the natural and reasonable result and effect of his acts and utterances, and every person may be held to strict responsibility and accountability for the natural and necessary effect of whatever may be spoken or written and published by him...
...Recently there was tried a case before a jury against certain people in the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, Judge Clarence W. Sessions presiding...
...We give his general statement of the law in full: IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN, SOUTHERN DIVISION...
...The distribution of the literature here involved, in itself and considered by itself, was not unlawful...
...Tnder Conscription Act BEFORE THE ENACTMENT of the Conscription Act these respondents, as well as all other citizens, including the members of Congress and other public officials had a right to oppose its adoption in all legitimate ways...
...On the other hand, if any one of your number has any bias or prejudice against the Conscription Law, so-called, or its enforcement, it is your duty to lay that prejudice aside and not let it influence or affect your verdict in the slightest degree...
...They must have the best training and the best officers which this great country can produce...
...This country is at war, and as a result there is more or less popular excitement...
...The testimony relating to the distribution of the leaflets is a part of the evidence introduced and admitted to assist you in determining whether a conspiracy existed, and whether the charge made against the respondents has been established...
...Speech Senator La Follette in U. S. Senate...
...Nothing must be left undone for their protection...
...After a law has been enacted, after it has become a law, no person has a right to advise, or counsel, or procure, or induce another person to violate that law...
...vent men of registrable age from complying with' the mandates of the so-called Selective Draft law...
...The dependents and relatives they leave at home must be provided for, not meagerly, but generously so far as money can provide for them...
...The fact that this Country is at war with the Imperial German Government does not change the rules of evidence, nor the necessity for the Government to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt...
...Every person has a perfect right to affiliate with and to belong to the political party, or other legitimate organization, of his own choosing, and cannot be denied that right...
...He had the right to oppose conscription as a governmental policy...
...They must have the best army, ammunition and equipment that money can buy...
...The defendants are not on trial because of any action taken, or any resolution or platform adopted by the St...
...Every person has a right, in all lawful ways and by all lawful means within his power, to aid and assist the party or organization to which he may belong...
...Right to Criticise in War Time A Noted Charge by Clarence W. Sessions, Judge of the Western District of Michigan, on the Right of Speech AS WE PROCEED m this war the political rights of the people are becoming clearer...
...Such distribution and circulation became unlawful only if it was a part of and in furtherance of the unlawful conspiracy alleged in the indictment...
...Although the arguments of counsel haTe assumed a wide range, and covered many subjects, the real issues to be decided by you lie within a very narrow compass...
...During April, May and June of this year, and hence during the period covered by this indictment, every person had the right to criticise the Government and its policies and officials, including the Government's declaration of war against Germany...
...This is a land of a free press and of a free speech, and it is the privilege—a privilege so sacred that it is guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States, and of every State of this Union of States—of every person to freely speak and publish his views and ideas upon any subject...
...No person has a right at any time to conspire with others to violate any law of the United States and thereby to commit a crime against the United States...
...If any one of your number has any bias, or prejudice, or feeling against any of these respondents because he is a Socialist, or because he occupies some other position, it is your duty to lay aside that bias, or prejudice or feeling, and not let it influence your verdict...
...But he had no right in the name of Socialism, or the Socialist Party, or under the guise and pretense of aiding and assisting Socialism or the Socialist Party, or otherwise, to combine, confederate and conspire with the other defendants, or any of them, to procure and induce young men between the ages of twenty-one and thirty inclusive, wilfully to fail and refuse to register on the 5th day of last June in accordance with the provisions of the Act of Congress commonly known as tho "Selective Draft Act;-' and he had no right knowingly and intentionally either to distribute literature or to do any other act designed and intended to carry out and effect the object of such unlawful combination and conspiracy...
...THE UNITED STATES, DANIEL ROY FREEMAN, et al, " CONSPIRACY Defendants...
...It is the right of every citizen to criticise laws which have been enacted, to speak his mind as to the wisdom or the want of wisdom in the enactment of such laws...
...Every person has the right, within lawful limits, to advocate the .principles and doctrines of the party or organization to which he may belong, and cannot be denied such right...
...The defendants, and each and all of them, are entitled to a fair and impartial trial under the rules of law which apply to this case, and you should not permit any prejudice or bias to influence your verdict in the slightest degree...
...In reaching your decision upon the conspiracy charged in this case you should carefully exclude from your minds all influences arising from mere popular excitement or prejudice...
...Gentlemen of the Jury: It is of the utmost importance that you should clearly understand and appreciate the precise issues which are presented to you in this case for your determination...
...At the beginning there were certain hysterical personages elevated to power (of brief moment let us hope) who conceived that the constitution is suspended during the war and unofficial people had no rights...
...The evidence relating to that convention, the action there taken, the platform and resolutions there proposed and adopted, and the referendum ballot, so-called, has been introduced and admitted solely because of its bearing upon the origin, history, character and purpose of the leaflet entitled "Proclamation and War Program," which has a prominent place in this case, and has been presented to you for your consideration in determining the issues here involved...
...Hut no person in the name of, or under the guise and pretense of aiding and assisting any organization or party, has a right to commit crime or to violate tho law, or to procure and induce others to violate th6 law...
...After its enactment they had an equal right to employ and use all lawful means to secure its modification or repeal...
...The judge's charge to the jury is an admirable exposition of the law...
...and any violation of its provisions, and any conspiracy to violate its provisions, when followed by an overt act to carry such conspiracy into execution, is a crime and punishable as such...
...To state the matter In another way: It Is one of ?he fundamental and Inalienable rights of ©very citizeii ?r any band or number of citizens, to petition the Government of the United States, or the Congress of the United States, for the modification or the repeal of any statute or to submit it to a referendum vote of the whole people before it shall become operative...
...Right of a Citizen EVERY CITIZEN of the United States has a legal right to have and to express an opinion against the approval of any proposed or pending legislation, and to have and to express an opinion favoring the repeal or modification of any law after it has been approved and adopted...
...The defendants are not charged with the unlawful distribution and circulation of literature...
...These respondents are not upon trial because of the exercise of those rights, and whether you approve or disapprove of their conduct, you cannot base a verdict of guilty upon the exercise of any such right...
...Whether you approve or disapprove the doctrines and teachings of Socialism or the practices of the Socialist Party and its members, is wholly immaterial...
...there is a line which divides license and privilege from crime...
...Our young men are being taken by the hundreds of thousands for the purpose of waging this war on the Continent cf Europe, possibly Asia or Africa, or anywhere else that they may be ordered...
...Rules in Present Case APPLYING the rule thus stated to the present case: Each of these defendants had a perfect right, if lie saw fit, to belong.to the Socialist Party, to' advocate its principles, to disseminate its doctrines, and to do any lawful act which he deemed to be for the benefit of and in furtherance of its interests...
...But after its enactment, and as long as it is a law and remains in force and operation as a law, it is the duty of every citizen to yield implicit obedience to its requirements...
...he had the right to use all lawful means and efforts, either in connection with a political party or as an individual, to secure the repeal of the conscription law and to arouse public sentiment against the continued existence of such law...
...But there is a point beyond which no person can go...
...CHARGE TO THE JURY...
Vol. 10 • January 1918 • No. 1
