The Espionage Act of 1917 (Pub.L. 65-24, 40 Stat. 217, enacted June 15, 1917) is a United States federal 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 (War) 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, 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most controversial sections of the Act, including the original section 3, under which Rutherford was convicted, were repealed in 1921.
Read more about Espionage Act Of 1917: Enactment
Famous quotes containing the words espionage and/or act:
“I cannot think that espionage can be recommended as a technique for building an impressive civilisation. It’s a lout’s game.”
—Rebecca West (1892–1983)
“of artists dying in childbirth, wise-women charred at the stake,
centuries of books unwritten piled behind these shelves;
and we still have to stare into the absence
of men who would not, women who could not, speak
to our life—this still unexcavated hole
called civilization, this act of translation, this half-world.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)