A former First Amendment test that allowed government to restrict speech only when it created a clear and present danger of bringing about substantive evils that government has a right to prevent. It has largely been replaced by the imminent lawless action standard.
From Old French 'cler' (bright, evident) and Latin 'praesens' (being before) plus 'danger' from Old French 'dangier' (power to harm). Justice Holmes coined this phrase in Schenck v. United States (1919), drawing from the metaphor of falsely shouting 'fire' in a crowded theater.
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