Ep. 46 Revisiting Masses v. Patten (1917)

Masses Publishing Co. v. Patten (1917) might be the most
important free speech case you’ve never heard of.



In his now largely forgotten decision in the case, then Southern
District of New York Judge Learned Hand rejected the United
States postmaster general’s arguments for refusing to mail Masses
magazine. The magazine was staunchly opposed to World War I and
the compulsory military draft. The postmaster general argued that
the recently passed Espionage Act gave him the authority to deny
the magazine’s circulation.


On this episode of So to Speak, we revisit Masses v. Patten with
University of Washington School of Law Scholar Ronald Collins and
feature a reargument of the case (min. 40) at the United States
Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. One hundred years ago
this month, that same court reversed Judge Hand’s decision.


The case was reargued in front of a panel of Second Circuit
judges on Nov. 6, with former Stanford Law School Dean Kathleen
Sullivan appearing for Masses Publishing Company and First
Amendment attorney Floyd Abrams appearing for Postmaster Patten.


VIDEO of reargument: https://youtu.be/p1W1wfOK1R0


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