UNITED STATES ex rel. MILWAUKEE SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PUBLISHING COMPANY v. BURLESON

Legal Principle at Issue

Whether the Postmaster General had the statutory authority under the Espionage Act of 1917 to revoke a newspaper's second-class mailing privileges based on its past publication of anti-war articles, and whether doing so violated the First Amendment or due process.

Action

Affirmed (includes modified). Petitioning party did not receive a favorable disposition.

Facts/Syllabus

In Milwaukee Social Democratic Publishing Co. v. Burleson (1921), the Supreme Court reviewed the Postmaster General’s revocation of the Milwaukee Leader’s second-class mailing privilege during World War I. The newspaper, published by the Milwaukee Social Democratic Publishing Company, had received the privilege in 1911. After a September 1917 hearing, postal officials concluded that the paper had repeatedly published material violating the Espionage Act of 1917, making it “nonmailable.” The Postmaster General affirmed the revocation, and the publisher sought a writ of mandamus requiring restoration of its mailing status.

According to the Postmaster General, the Milwaukee Leader had published numerous articles intended to obstruct recruiting, undermine military operations, promote enemy success, and encourage disloyalty. More than fifty excerpts were cited, including attacks on the war, the draft, the government, and democratic institutions. The publisher argued that the Espionage Act was unconstitutional insofar as it allowed the Postmaster General to act without a judicial trial, and that the order violated freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and due process. 

The lower courts rejected the publisher’s challenge, and the Supreme Court concluded that the Postmaster General acted within his statutory authority and that substantial evidence supported the revocation.