Thomas Healy

Oliver Wendell Holmes.

Regarded today as the greatest Supreme Court justice in our history.

Professor of law at Seton Hall University School of Law.

He essentially laid the groundwork for our modern understanding of free speech.

Piercing blue eyes.

He had this sort of shock of very thick white hair on his head.

Mustache, right?

He has a great mustache.

Yes.

Great mustache.

That expanded out past the edges of his face.

And... Congress was worried that if people criticized the draft, then they wouldn't be able to raise an army.

Made it a crime to say things that might obstruct the war effort.

Anything that was critical of the form of the United States government or of the president, anything that was disloyal or scurious.

Which covered pretty much everything.

It made it a crime to have a conversation about whether the draft was a good idea, about whether the war was a good idea.

People who forwarded chain letters that were critical of the war.

Or people who said that the war was being fought to line the pockets of J.P.

Morgan.

And the court upheld these convictions.