Home > Great American Court Cases > Dennis v. United States

Legal Citation: 341 U.S. 494 (1951)

Petitioners
Eugene Dennis, Benjamin Davis, John Gates, Gil Green, Gus Hall, Irving Potash, Jack Stachel, Robert Thompson, John Williamson, Henry Winston, Carl Winter

Respondent
United States

Petitioners' Claim
That the Smith Act violates the First Amendment and other provisions of the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution.

Chief Lawyers for Petitioners
George W. Crockett, Jr., Abraham J. Isserman, Harry Sacher

Chief Lawyers for Respondent
Philip B. Perlman, Irving S. Shapiro

Justices for the Court
Harold Burton, Felix Frankfurter, Robert H. Jackson, Sherman Minton, Stanley Forman Reed, Fred Moore Vinson (writing for the Court)

Justices Dissenting
Hugo Lafayette Black, William O. Douglas (Tom C. Clark did not participate)

Place
Washington, D.C.