Gitlow

**Name:** Benjamin Gitlow vs The People of the State of New York
Decided on June 8th, 1925
 * Year:** Argued on April 12th, 1923


 * Background:** Benjamin Gitlow had published over sixteen thousand of his Communist pamphlet //The Left-Winged Manifesto.// Gitlow, a founding member of the US Communist Party, openly opposed the government and encouraged overthrowing it by use of force or violence. When he was tried and convicted, Gitlow appealed and argued that he was within his rights according to the First Amendment. Also, the state government was incapable of withholding his freedom of speech according to the Fourteenth Amendment. However, the Supreme Court convicted him due to fact that he was encouraging violently overthrowing the government, which is unlawful.


 * Question:** If this case had not been during the period of the Red Scare, would the Supreme Court have sided with Gitlow?


 * Rationale:** The Supreme Court had to rely on the "due process clause" of the Fourteenth Amendment. It prohibits any state from seizing, "any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."