War places enormous burdens on governmental institutions, and the courts are no exception. The federal Constitution of the United States gives the responsibility of deciding what executive and legislative actions are constitutional to the Supreme Court. Therefore, the Judicial Branch must react to the changing circumstances of wartime America, with an equally altered view of justice. The court decisions during the 1920's, and thus World War I, illustrated the judicial reaction to the war through the substantial impairment of the civil liberties of individuals and the siding of the courts with business owners.

Many cases involving the liberty of free speech were decided on during this period. The first pivotal decision was in the case Schenck v. United States, which involved a challenge to the provisions of the Espionage Act of 1917. This act made it a crime to obstruct the enlistment of individuals into the armed forces. The...