Berger v. United States

Berger v. United States 255 U.S. 22 (1921) was an appellate case by the Supreme Court of the United States overruling a decision by Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis against Rep. Victor L. Berger, a socialist leader, and several other defendants who were convicted of violating the Espionage Act for publicizing anti-interventionist views during World War I. Using Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution the House of Representatives twice denied Berger his seat in the House due to this conviction.[1] The Supreme Court overturned the verdict in 1921 in Berger v. U.S., and Berger won three successive terms in the House in the 1920s.[2] The case was argued on December 9, 1920 and decided on January 31, 1921 with an opinion by Justice Joseph McKenna and dissents by Justices William R. Day, James Clark McReynolds, and Mahlon Pitney.[3]