clear and present danger

Học thuật
Thân thiện
Definition
  1. Noun:
    • A legal standard for limiting speech: A principle used in U.S. constitutional law to determine when the government may restrict freedom of speech. It applies when speech is likely to incite or produce imminent lawless action or poses a direct, immediate, and serious threat to public safety or national security.
Usage Examples
  • Noun:
    • The court ruled that the inflammatory speech did not meet the threshold of a clear and present danger and was therefore protected.
    • The "shouting fire in a crowded theater" analogy is a classic example used to illustrate the concept of a clear and present danger.
Advanced Usage
  • Legal Doctrine: The "clear and present danger" test was famously articulated by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. in the 1919 Supreme Court case . It has since evolved, with the more stringent "imminent lawless action" test from (1969) largely superseding it in modern First Amendment jurisprudence.
  • In Broader Context: While primarily a legal term, it is sometimes used in general discourse to describe any obvious and immediate threat.
    • The hurricane posed a clear and present danger to coastal communities, prompting mandatory evacuations.
Variants and Related Words
  • Imminent lawless action (n): The modern legal standard that replaced the "clear and present danger" test, requiring that speech be directed to inciting likely to incite imminent unlawful action.
  • Clear and probable danger (n): A related, sometimes stricter, legal standard suggesting a high likelihood of danger.
Synonyms
  • Imminent threat: A danger that is about to happen.
  • Direct threat: A danger that is straightforward and unambiguous.
Related Phrases
  • To pose a clear and present danger: The most common verb collocation.
    • The leaked documents were argued to pose a clear and present danger to national security.
  • Test of clear and present danger: Refers to the legal standard itself.
    • The speech was evaluated under the test of clear and present danger.
Related Idioms
  • "Shouting fire in a crowded theater": This idiom is inextricably linked to the term. It represents the paradigmatic example of speech that creates a "clear and present danger" and is therefore not protected by the First Amendment.
    • His reckless accusations were like shouting fire in a crowded theater, causing unnecessary panic.
Noun
  1. a standard for judging when freedom of speech can be abridged
    • no one has a right to shout `fire' in a crowded theater when there is no fire because such an action would pose a clear and present danger to public safety