The Alien Registration Act of 1940 (Smith Act, 76th United States Congress, 3d session, ch. 439, 54 Stat. 670, 18 U.S.C. ยง 2385, enacted June 29, 1940) is a United States federal statute that set criminal penalties for advocating the overthrow of the U.S. government and required all non-citizen adult residents to register with the government.
Approximately 215 people were indicted under the legislation, including alleged communists, Trotskyists, and fascists. Prosecutions under the Smith Act continued until a series of United States Supreme Court decisions in 1957 reversed a number of convictions under the Act as unconstitutional. The statute has been amended several times.
Read more about Smith Act: Legislative History, Provisions, Alien Registration
Famous quotes containing the words smith and/or act:
“If we shake hands with icy fingers, it is because we’ve burnt them so hatefully before.”
—Logan Pearsall Smith (1865–1946)
“The act of bellringing is symbolic of all proselytizing religions. It implies the pointless interference with the quiet of other people.”
—Ezra Pound (1885–1972)