Today in Supreme Court History: December 28, 1856

12/28/1856: President Woodrow Wilson's birthday. His administration would initiate the prosecutions under the Sedition Act that gave rise to Schenck v. U.S., Debs v. U.S., and Abrams v. U.S.

 

Comments

[Dan Schiavetta]

Synanon Foundation, Inc. v. California, 444 U.S. 1307 (decided December 28, 1979): Rehnquist denies stay of order allowing California Attorney General to intervene in affairs of charitable organization suspected of corruption; Synanon claimed it was a church but First Amendment provides no special protection (I was glad to see Synanon get their comeuppance; their “attack therapy” for drug abuse was much praised when I was first working in that field and it seemed to me monstrous)

[Syd Henderson]

The new Robert Galbraith (J. K. Rowling) mystery novel investigates a cult that practices "attack therapy" as one of the methods of indoctrinating members. Synanon and similar groups that practiced it are clearly one of the inspirations for the novel. (You can also see echoes of Jonestown, the Branch Davidians, and even the early days of Mormonism.)

[NvEric]

Know nothing of 'attack therapy' but do know the best and only lasting 'therapy' for addiction is a simple decision to STOP. Making the decision is key and can only be done by the individual, of course.

Self-Control of, and Responsibility to, oneself mark a decent Citizen. Nothing is beyond one's control of Self. Deny this and then law must be created.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

What is the proper course of treatment for illiteracy (random capitalization in particular)?

[Syd Henderson]

I was going to say nothing important happened but that is pretty interesting. I know California had liberal laws about what constituted a religion and I'm glad Rehnquist saw through it.

[Syd Henderson]

And the three Wilson cases form an ugly pattern which was a major reason the Republicans won an enormous landslide in 1920.

[Dan Schiavetta]

I don’t think that was a major reason.

Denying rights to socialists was a popular thing to do.

[Dr. Ed 2]

WWI have anything to do with it?

[Syd Henderson]

It was an excuse, but the October Revolution was another. There were a number of bombings as well, notably one on Wall Street in September of 1920