Clear and Present Danger Definition

A legal standard courts sometimes used in the past to determine when speech or expression could be banned for encouraging others to break the law. It first appeared in Justice Holmes's majority opinion in Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47, 52 (1919). The Supreme Court never formally adopted the clear and present danger test as a First Amendment standard, but it continued to appear in Supreme Court and lower court opinions through the mid-20th century.

Today, the Supreme Court (and as a result, lower courts) use the "incitement test" to decide when speech can be punished for encouraging others to act lawlessly. See Brandenburg v. Ohio, 395 U.S. 444 (1969) (speech that incites others to imminent lawless action, and that's likely to produce such action, can be punished).