Dennis et al v. US

US Supreme Court decision of 1951 dealing with the power of Congress to suppress certain political activities by revoking First Amendment rights. The case was brought by Dennis, a Communist Party official, and others to test the Smith Act 1940, which outlawed advocacy of the violent overthrow of the government. The Court upheld the Smith Act, implicitly returning to the ‘bad tendency’ doctrine by defining any teaching that suggests the overthrow of the government as a clear and present danger to society. This definition gave Congress the right to restrict speech and assembly of anyone affiliated with the Communist Party.