Gitlow V. New York (1925)

Benjamin Gitlow was a left-leaning member of the Socialist party in the 1920's. He was convicted for violating the New York Criminal Anarchy Law of 1902 which made it a crime to advocate the violent overthrow of the government. He was arrested during the 1920 red scare for writing, publishing and distributing about sixteen thousand copies of a pamphlet called Left‐wing Manifesto that urged socialists to establish themselves as a prominent party by strikes and “class action in any form.”
    Gitlow was tried and convicted, but he appealed the decision, arguing that his First Amendment right to freedoms of speech and press was violated.  That is how the supreme court case Gitlow V. New York came to be. Although the New York courts held that the Communists must be held accountable for the results of their propaganda, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Gitlow.

Benjamin Gitlow

   
  I agree a hundred percent with the Supreme Court's decision to allow Benjamin Gitlow to practice his freedom of speech and expression by distributing these pamphlets.  If this issue was handled today it would be an open-and-shut case because of the strength of the first amendment. The only reason it was a largely publicized landmark case was because it was during the first Red Scare, and a communist winning a Supreme Court case during that time was unheard of, which shows the power of the first amendment.  This court decision helped keep the 1st amendment a solid precedent in the United States' legislative branch.