Charles Schenck

Released
Gender:Male
Era:1910s
State:Pennsylvania
Support
Anti-War Socialism Socialist Party of America
No image available

Biography

Charles Schenck, general secretary of the Socialist Party in Philadelphia, was convicted under the Espionage Act of 1917 after distributing anti-draft leaflets during World War I. The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction in Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47 (1919). A 2019 legal-history chapter reports that he served six months. Sources: https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep249/usrep249047/usrep249047.pdf ; https://www.oyez.org/cases/1900-1940/249us47

Review of the 2019 SAGE legal-history chapter, corroborated against the Supreme Court report and Oyez. The chapter reports six months actually served; no admission or release day is inferred.

Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47 (1919), Library of Congress

Case

Charges: Espionage Act of 1917: conspiracy to cause insubordination in the military and obstruct recruiting through anti-draft leaflets.
Sentence: Six months served, as reported in the reviewed 2019 legal-history chapter; exact custody dates are not established.
Convicted: Yes

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