 In May 1950 , one month before the appeals court heard oral arguments in the CPUSA case , the Supreme Court ruled on free speech issues in American Communications Association v. Douds . In that case the Court considered the clear and present danger test , but rejected it as too mechanical and instead introduced a balancing test . The federal appeals court heard oral arguments in the CPUSA case on June 21 – 23 , 1950 . Two days later , on June 25 , South Korea was invaded by forces from communist North Korea , marking the start of the Korean War ; during the two months that the appeals court judges were forging their opinions , the Korean War dominated the headlines . On August 1 , 1950 , the appeals court unanimously upheld the convictions in an opinion written by Judge Learned Hand . Judge Hand considered the clear and present danger test , but his opinion adopted a balancing approach similar to that suggested in American Communications Association v. Douds . In his opinion , Hand wrote : 
