<P> `` Shouting fire in a crowded theater '' is a popular metaphor for speech or actions made for the principal purpose of creating unnecessary panic . The phrase is a paraphrasing of Oliver Wendell Holmes , Jr. 's opinion in the United States Supreme Court case Schenck v. United States in 1919 , which held that the defendant 's speech in opposition to the draft during World War I was not protected free speech under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution . </P>
<P> `` Shouting fire in a crowded theater '' is a popular metaphor for speech or actions made for the principal purpose of creating unnecessary panic . The phrase is a paraphrasing of Oliver Wendell Holmes , Jr. 's opinion in the United States Supreme Court case Schenck v. United States in 1919 , which held that the defendant 's speech in opposition to the draft during World War I was not protected free speech under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution . </P>
who said you ca n 't yell fire in a crowded theater
who said you ca n 't yell fire in a crowded theater
Oliver Wendell Holmes , Jr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes , Jr.