That there are practical limits is never in dispute. The question is always whether this instance is protected or falls under an exception, and should it be. T

That there are practical limits is never in dispute. The question is always whether this instance is protected or falls under an exception, and should it be. The analogy “fire in a crowded theater” was most famously used by Justice Holmes in 1919’s Schenck v. United States. Holmes used it to argue (and the court ruled that) protesting the military draft was a clear and present danger to the public tantamount to espionage. Most people today, I think, would disagree. But the metaphor remains common, often used uncritically, without considering what speech it has been used to suppress in the past.