Summary Of The Supreme Court Case Of Dennis V. Dennis

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On December Fourth, 1950, the court case Dennis v. United States was brought to the Supreme Court concerning the Constitutionality of the Smith Act. The Smith Act stated that citizens cannot knowingly work towards to and willingly advocate for the violent and forceful overthrow of the United States government. It is also illegal for citizens to support or organize a group that aims to do so by the Smith Act. Before this case was introduced to the Supreme Court, it underwent trial at multiple lower courts after the leading members of the Communist Party of America were arrested for violating the Smith Act in 1948. Eugene Dennis, an elected official to the Executive Secretary position of the Communist Party of America was arrested along …show more content…

This party was a party that advocated far Left ideas for government, specifically for the creation of labor unions for the working class. The Communist Party of America formed a small organization consisting of three caucuses and leadership positions. Its members would hold planned conventions from which they drafted a Constitution and a Program for the party. Many members of the Communist Party of America were of Russian descent and held a strong faith in the effectiveness of a communist government. They wanted to increase the communist movement to the point that it would be noticed overseas by the Russian government. The background and ideologies of Eugene Dennis and the other member of his party explain why they chose to break the Smith …show more content…

United States was: The Smith Act was constitutional, thus resulting Eugene Dennis and other arrested members of the Communist Party of America to remain guilty for their crimes. I disagree with this final verdict, because the Communist Party of America had not supported nor committed any acts to violently overthrow the U.S. government. For the parties involved, the verdict of the Supreme Court resulted in them being guilty according to the Smith Act. This verdict resulted in law enforcement having the right to make arrests according the Smith Act for another 6 years. It was not until 1957 that the Smith Act was reformed. In the trial Yates v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court made parts of the Smith Act unenforceable. The Smith Act remained as law, but no more arrests were made for its violation after 1957, suggesting that that no one should be affected by the Smith Act