Which case is often cited as establishing that free speech can be restricted under wartime circumstances?

• A. Gideon v. Wainwright
• B. Roe v. Wade
• C. Schenck v. United States
• D. McDonald v. Chicago

Answer: (C)

In wartime, speech can be limited when it poses a real risk to national interests. Schenck v. United States is the landmark case that established the idea that free speech may be restricted if it creates a clear and present danger to the war effort or public safety. In that decision, the Court ruled that distributing anti-draft pamphlets during World War I could be curtailed because it posed an immediate danger to the government’s ability to conduct the war, showing that constitutional rights are not absolute in extraordinary times.

The other cases address different constitutional issues: Gideon v. Wainwright guarantees the right to counsel for those who can’t afford it; Roe v. Wade protects a woman’s right to choose an abortion; McDonald v. Chicago extends the Second Amendment to state and local governments. None of these establish wartime restrictions on speech in the way Schenck does.