Prohibitions

• The law made it punishable by death for anyone to hinder the success of the U.S. Armed Forces or to support the country's enemies. Offenses includes refusal of military duty, causing disloyalty and insubordination among the armed forces and obstructing military recruitment. The Postmaster General was empowered to refuse mail deemed to be in violation of the law.
  
  

The Sedition Act of 1918

• The Sedition Act took the Espionage Act's prohibitions a step further by outlawing deterring investors from acquiring federally issued bonds or loans, campaigning against the government, willful display of the enemy's flag and disruption of wartime production.
  
  

Schenck v. United States

• Charles Schenck was indicted for violating the Espionage Act on the grounds that he mailed antidraft propaganda to more than 15,000 men in Philadelphia. The brochures equated the draft to slavery, accused conscripts of being criminals and opposed American involvement in the war. The Supreme Court upheld this conviction by invoking the "clear and present danger" doctrine, stating that the First Amendment does not protect a civilian who falsely cries fire in a crowded theater.