''Patterson v. Colorado'', 205 U.S. 454 (1907), was a First Amendment case. Before 1919, the primary legal test used in the United States to determine if speech could be criminalized was the
bad tendency test.
[Rabban, pp 132–134, 190–199.] Rooted in English
common law
Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...
, the test permitted speech to be outlawed if it had a tendency to harm public welfare.
[ One of the earliest cases the Supreme Court heard addressing punishment after material was published was 1907's ''Patterson v. Colorado'' in which the Court used the bad tendency test to uphold contempt charges against a newspaper publisher who accused Colorado judges of acting on behalf of local utility companies.][Before 1907, most free speech issues addressed ]prior restraint
Prior restraint (also referred to as prior censorship or pre-publication censorship) is censorship imposed, usually by a government or institution, on expression, that prohibits particular instances of expression. It is in contrast to censorship ...
rather than punishment after speaking.
See also
* List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 205
Footnotes
References
*Rabban, David, ''Free Speech in Its Forgotten Years'', Cambridge University Press, 1999,
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson v. Colorado
1907 in United States case law
United States Supreme Court cases
United States Free Speech Clause case law
United States due process case law
United States Supreme Court cases of the Fuller Court