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[Editor's note: "The Constitution Works" is a role-playing exercise that gives students a chance to learn about the United States Constitution and government. The students role play a hypothetical court case, Denver Dispatch v. United States. Students take on roles as a lawyer or Supreme Court Justice. They think about what is more important: the freedom of the newspaper to print what it wants OR the government's duty to protect our nation's security. Read more about the Constitution Works program HERE.]

The Constitution Works: National Security v. The First Amendment

“Congress shall make no law. . .abridging the freedom of the speech, or of the press” (First Amendment)

One purpose of the Constitution is to. . .provide for the common defense. . . (Preamble)

Article II of the Constitution makes the Executive branch responsible for the nation’s safety.

Denver Dispatch v. United States
Denver Dispatch Brief for the U.S. Supreme Court

May it please the court; we are the petitioners, representing the Denver Dispatch newspaper.

We believe the Supreme Court should remove the court order that forbids the Denver Dispatch to publish articles about biological warfare at the Boulder Research Laboratory.

We appear before you to argue that the government does not have the right to take away the freedom of press.

The facts of the case are that the government wanted us to stop publishing our newspaper because they didn’t want national security to get out. We appealed the court order to have us stop publishing to the U.S Court of Appeals. They upheld the court order and now we ask the Supreme Court to fight for our freedom of press to keep publishing our newspaper.

We ask the Justices to decide to let us keep publishing our news paper because we have freedom of the press and the government can’t put national security above the First Amendment.

The first reason we believe the Supreme Court should remove the court order that forbids the Denver Dispatch from publishing articles about biological warfare at the Boulder Research Laboratory is because of what is written in the United States Constitution.

Our country created the Constitution “In order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessing of liberty to our self and our posterity.”

We feel this supports our case because we have the freedom of speech and of the press. We have the right to inform the public. We need to inform people about Antrax X. We need to tell people, and make them prepared just in case.

Another reason we believe the Supreme Court should remove the court is because of the past Supreme Court decision in Schenck v. United States in 1919.

In Schenck vs. United States in 1917 during World War I Charles Schenck did not want anybody to fight so he protested, writing fliers saying that we should not fight. He printed 15,000 copies to protest against the war. The government got worried because if nobody attended then we would lose the war. The government insisted Schenck to stop printing these leaflets.

We argue that the First Amendment was protecting Schenck a lot because under the First Amendment he did have the freedom of the press to show his opinion of what he thought of the war.

Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote as a part of the majority opinion, “Are the words that are said or written used in such a way that they cause a clear and present danger? If that is the case, then [we] have the right. . .to stop this kind of speech. It is a question of how close is this possible danger and how dangerous could it be.” Schenk believed he had the right to pass out the leaflets and was protected by the First Amendment

We believe this applies to the Denver Dispatch case because when you are saying something it is just like it can be on paper when you read it. We have the right to know what is going on around the lab if there is something that can be dangerous. We think we have the freedom of the press to say what we want in the Denver Dispatch articles.

Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote as a part of the majority opinion “…are the words that are said or written used in such a way that they cause a clear and present danger?” Holmes also says, “Schenck believes that his right to pass out these leaflets is protected by the First Amendment.”

We believe this applies to the Denver dispatch case because when you are saying something it is just like it can be on paper when you read it and we have the right to know what is going on around if there is something that can be dangerous and we think that this is similar to do because they have the freedom of the press to say want we in the Denver dispatch articles.

The next reason we believe the Supreme Court should remove the court order that forbids the Denver Dispatch from publishing articles about biological warfare at the Boulder Research Laboratory is because of the past Supreme Court decision Near v. United States in 1931.

Near was printing a racist newspaper that was evil, the “Saturday Press.” The Minnesota government tried to stop Near from publishing these papers, but Near won because of his freedom of the press.

In this case, Justice Hughes said, “… freedom of the press is necessary if we want people to be free.”

We believe this applies to the Denver Dispatch case because we have the freedom to protect ourselves. We don’t always need someone to protect us.

Justice Hughes also said, “… freedom of the press means that a newspaper can publish what it wants….’’

We believe this applies to the Denver Dispatch case because we have the right to inform the public.

The last reasons we believe the Supreme Court should remove the court order that forbids the Denver Dispatch to publish articles about biological warfare at the Boulder Research Laboratory is because of the past Supreme Court decision, NY Times v. United States in 1971.

In this case Daniel Ellsberg printed an article about the American government and military leaders during the ten-year period when American troops fought against North Vietnam. He was just informing the public about what was going on with the military and the government.

Justice Black wrote as part of the majority opinion, “I believe that every second that this injunction continues…violates the First Amendment… It is wrong to put National security above the First Amendment.”

We believe this applies to the Denver Dispatch case because in the First Amendment it says that Congress is not allowed to make laws that stop people from speaking, writing, printing, or broadcasting on television or radio what they want to say.

Justice Brennan also wrote as part of the majority opinion, “ The government argued in each level of courts that publication of the Pentagon Papers ‘could’ or ‘might’ or ‘may’ hurt the interests of the United States. . . .Under the First Amendment there can be no blocking of Freedom of the Press because some danger might come about. . . .”

We believe this applies to the Denver Dispatch case because there have been no terrorist or spies attacking us since we have published the newspaper.

You have heard the arguments from the petitioner, the Denver Dispatch. We ask the Justices to uphold the freedom of the press granted in the First Amendment and to allow the newspaper to continue to publish the articles about biological warfare research.

Denver Dispatch v. United States
United States Brief for the U.S. Supreme Court

May it please the court; we are the respondents, representing the United States.

We appear before you to argue about how the Denver Dispatch is writing dangerous articles about military secret information.

The facts of the case are that the almost 100% deadly virus Anthrax X is being developed in a secret lab in boulder, Colorado. It is being told to the public by the Denver Dispatch. If this valuable information gets in the hands of the wrong person things can turn for the worst.

We ask the Justices to decide to please uphold the court order the lower courts imposed on the Denver Dispatch newspaper because we should have common defense to our nation. We still have enemies. If they find out about this information it can lead to war.

We believe the Supreme Court should forbid the newspaper to publish further articles about biological warfare research at the Boulder Research Laboratory.

The first reason we believe the Supreme Court should forbid the newspaper from publishing further articles about biological warfare at the Boulder Research Laboratory is because of what is written in the United States Constitution.
In the Constitution’s preamble it says: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
We feel this applies to the Denver Dispatch case because we the United States of America should have common defense to keep our country safe.

The second reason we believe the Supreme Court should forbid the newspaper to publish further articles is because of the past Supreme Court decision in Schenck v. United States in 1919.

The Schenck V. United States case is all about how during World War 1 Charles Schenck printed 15,000 copies of anit-war and anit-draft leaflets. The only reason he did that is because he didn’t want the United States to fight World War 1.

Justice Holmes wrote as part of the majority opinion: “Things which we allow in peacetime are sometimes too dangerous to allow in war time.”

We believe this applies to the Denver Dispatch case because we are at war. The Denver Dispatch is just informing the public but with dangerous information that we can’t allow.

Justice Holmes also wrote as a part of the majority opinion: “Everyone would agree that no matter what we believe in the freedom of speech we should not permit a person to shout fire in a crowded movie theater and cause panic if there is no fire.’’

We believe this applies to the Denver Dispatch case because the articles are like yelling to our enemies and it can cause panic.

Another reason we believe the Supreme Court should forbid the newspaper to publish further articles is because of the past Supreme Court decision in Near v. Minnesota in 1931.

Near vs. Minnesota is all about how Jay Near and Howard Guilford published a newspaper called the Saturday Press. The newspaper was racist, anti-Jewish, anti-government and it attacked everyone – gangsters, police commissioners, and even the mayor.

Justice Butler wrote as part of the dissenting opinion: “…this paper threatens…peace and order….”

We believe this applies to the Denver Dispatch case because the information the Denver Dispatch publishes would threaten peace and order.

Justice Hughes wrote as part of the majority opinion: “… there are times when the government should be able to stop someone from publishing information.”

We believe this applies to the Denver Dispatch case because this information is too dangerous to give out.

The last reasons we believe the Supreme Court should forbid the newspaper to publish further articles is because of the past Supreme Court decision, NT Times v. Minnesota in 1971.

The case New York Times vs. United States is all about a man named Daniel Ellsberg. He worked for the United States government. He was in the defense department, and he told the New York Times some army secrets to put in the newspaper.

Harlan had a dissenting opinion: “The First Amendment is only one part of the Constitution. Article II of the great document gives the executive branch the power to control foreign affairs.”

We believe this applies to the Denver dispatch case because the government does have power to stop people if they want.

In New York Times Company vs. United States in the year1971, Justice Blackmun wrote as a part of the dissenting opinion: “The Constitution is important and I do not believe that the First Amendment is so important that is stands above the other sections.”
We should put common defense above the First Amendment to be safe!

You have heard the arguments from the respondents, the United States government. We ask the Justices to uphold the constitutional right of the government to protect national security by blocking further Denver Dispatch articles on biological warfare research.

Denver Dispatch v. United States 2010
Docket Number 93-8000

1. The Story: The Denver Dispatch is a newspaper in Colorado that is publishing information about a secret biological weapons laboratory in Boulder, Colorado. The government didn’t want the public to know so the government stopped the publication.

2. The Denver Dispatch Goes to the Supreme Court

The lawyers for the government argued: National Security should be put above the First Amendment. The newspaper is publishing dangerous things.

The lawyers for the Denver Dispatch argued: The First Amendment protects them. Freedom is more important than National Security. They should be allowed to continue publishing articles about the military lab.

The Supreme Court Justices decided:

The Supreme Court voted 6 to 3 in favor of the United States government.

Justice BatterGirl wrote as part of the majority:
I, Justice BatterGirl, believe the government has the Constitutional right to stop the Denver Dispatch from publishing information about the military laboratory in Boulder, Colorado.

I believe the US Government has this right because it is very important to keep our country safe. Terrorists may not attack now, but they could find out soon enough or could even be planning something right now. Maybe they just want a little more information so they will know how to attack. That’s why the Denver Dispatch should stop publishing.

I do not believe the Denver Dispatch has the Constitutional right to publish information about the military laboratory in Boulder, Colorado. If they keep publishing, our information would get out and, who knows, terroists could come out any day. That means they could be planning something now, so we need to be cautious at all times. In my opinion, it is more important to keep our country safe then to hold on to one part of the Constitution.

Justice Eagles36 wrote as part of the majority:
I, Justice Eagles36, believe the U.S Government has the Constitutional right to stop the Denver Dispatch from publishing information about the military laboratory in Boulder, Colorado

I believe the U.S Government has this right because if terrorists get a hold of this information they could use it against us. In the other cases the Denver Dispatch used, the issues represented were people’s opinions. The U.S has no right to stop printings that show opinion, but facts can do damage to the National Security of this nation.

I do not believe the Denver Dispatch has the constitutional right to publish information on the military laboratory in Boulder, Colorado because this is a clear and present danger. It’s telling the world about the secret information the government needs to keep secret. Remember when the U.S Captured Saddam Hussein? He had CBS on and hearing news about the U.S. Imagine if the country didn’t catch him and executed him he could have bombed the plant and spread Anthrax X all over the place.

Justice Halloween wrote as part of the majority:
I, Justice Halloween, believe the Government has the right to stop the Denver Dispatch from publishing information about the military laboratory in Boulder, Colorado.

I believe the US Government has the right because if the Denver Dispatch tells their secrets the enemies can know their weakness or bomb the lab.

I do not believe the Denver Dispatch has the Constitutional right to publish information about the military laboratory in Boulder, Colorado because if they tell the town what’s going on at the lab they can spread panic and fear.

Justice BlueDog wrote as part of the majority:
I, Justice BlueDog, believe the government has the Constitutional right to stop the Denver Dispatch from publishing information about the military laboratory in
Boulder, Colorado.

I believe the U.S. government has this right to put national security above amendment I. They are trying to keep our country safe and stop the Denver Dispatch from publishing articles about our plan. It’s like the Denver Dispatch are the spies, and the Denver Dispatch are
Publishing at a bad time. They should still not be publishing because there could be spies. People might think the terrors want to bomb us and they can still do something to us like attack us. But most of all, they can still have the first article from the news paper.

I do not believe the Denver Dispatch has the Constitutional right to publish information about the military laboratory in Boulder, Colorado because the government wants to keep our nation safe from the terrorists and the anthrax X. We should keep common defense for portions. Our Country wants peace not war. They want nothing to do with the terrorists or other trouble. The Denver Dispatch is also trying to protect but they are releasing government secrets and that just can make people lose their jobs and make people get afraid. That’s why they should put national security above the First Amendment. We are at war time and they can’t publish more information because the spies can be waiting for more information.

Justice SchoolBaseballStar wrote as part of the majority:
I, Justice SchoolBaseballStar, believe the government has the Constitutional right to stop the Denver Dispatch from publishing information about the military laboratory in Boulder, Colorado.

I believe the US government has this right because it could lead to war. The people might be scared of the Anthrax X and then a lot of people won’t want to live there. The government was saying they might be planning something…something big.

I do not believe the Denver Dispatch has the Constitutional right to publish information about the military laboratory in Boulder, Colorado because they can cause panic, causing people to get scared and not feeling protected. The government said in court that it can cause a panic if they print more copies.

Justice NewYork wrote as part of the majority:
I, Justice NewYork, believe the government has the Constitutional right to stop the Denver Dispatch from publishing information about the military lab in Boulder, Colorado.

I believe the US Government has the right to stop the Denver Dispatch from publishing because we are in wartime and not peacetime. Look, we might have a loss of several million people if we give this information. It’s like giving our enemies where our military bases are.

I do not believe the Denver Dispatch has the Constitutional right to publish these articles because our enemies are living right among us, and they might use this vital information to bomb this laboratory.

Justice Baby1000 wrote as part of the minority:
I, Justice Baby1000, believe the Denver Dispatch has the Constitutional right to publish information about the military laboratory in Boulder, Colorado.

I believe the Denver Dispatch has the right because they have the freedom to publish the newspaper, to inform the country about the Anthrax X so people don’t worry about the virus. Freedom is more important than National security.

I do not believe the government has the Constitutional right to stop the Denver Dispatch from publishing information about the military laboratory in Boulder, Colorado. National security should not be put above the first Amendment and the Denver Dispatch should stop.

Justice K15 wrote as part of the minority:
I, Justice K15, believe the Denver Dispatch has the Constitutional right to publish information about the military laboratory in Boulder, Colorado

I believe the Denver Dispatch has this right because their arguments were very good. I also agree that the public should know about the Anthrax X. Since the public already knows about it, they won’t be afraid that much about it. If they keep publishing the articles and the public already knows about it, we can have drills so we know if the Anthrax X is coming out or if the enemies are coming.

I do not believe the Government has the Constitutional right to stop the Denver Dispatch from publishing information about the military laboratory in Boulder, Colorado because they think that the articles would scare people when they already know about it. The Government also thinks we’re at war time, but we‘re not. They also said that we have the Freedom of the Press so if we have that right to publish anything we want, and then they might as well just publish the articles.

Justice Orange1999 wrote as part of the minority:
I Justice Orange1999, believe the Denver Dispatch has the Constitution right to publish information about the military laboratory in Boulder, Colorado.

I believe the Denver Dispatch has this right because we are not at war, and the 1st Amendment protected their rights to publish the articles.

I do not believe the Government has the Constitutional right to stop the Denver Dispatch from publishing information about the military laboratory in Boulder, Colorado because we do have the freedom of the press.