Yates v. United States - Significance, Advocating Government Overthrow, Further Readings

petitioner court justices william

Petitioner

Oleta O'Connor Yates

Respondent

United States

Petitioner's Claim

That advocacy of future overthrow of the government is protected by the First Amendment guarantee of free speech.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioner

Ben Margolis

Chief Lawyer for Respondent

Philip R. Monahan

Justices for the Court

Harold Burton, Tom C. Clark, Felix Frankfurter, John Marshall Harlan II (writing for the Court), Earl Warren

Justices Dissenting

Hugo Lafayette Black, William O. Douglas, (William J. Brennan, Jr., and Charles Evans Whittaker did not participate)

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

17 June 1957

Decision

The Supreme Court struck down the convictions of five of the appellants and referred the cases of the other nine (all were Communist Party leaders) back to the lower courts for retrial.

Additional Topics

Yates v. United States - Significance

By declaring that advocacy of future action differed from plans for immediate government overthrow, Yates greatly curtailed the federal government's ability to prosecute subversives. The Smith Act, also known as the Alien Registration Act, was adopted in 1940. America did not enter World War II until the following year, but the Smith Act was clearly a product of the nation's prewar anxiety. It con…

Yates v. United States - Advocating Government Overthrow

Sporadically since its birth, the United States struggled with subversive activity, both real and imagined. During the twentieth century concern about Communism and anarchists, those who advocated violent overthrow of the government, led to racial antagonism including racially-biased legislation and massive government probes into the affairs of aliens and citizens. The period between 1917 and 1920…

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