The alt.usage.english FAQ   

• "shouting fire in a crowded theater"

  (Phrase Origins)
  
  

  
     This is from the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Schenck v. U.S.
  (1919), setting limits on the freedom of speech guaranteed by the
  First Amendment to the Constitution.  Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes,
  Junior, wrote:  "The most stringent protection of free speech would
  not protect a man falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a
  panic."

  
  
  Source: [Mark Israel, 'Phrase Origins: "shouting fire in a crowded theater"', The alt.usage.english FAQ file,(line 5308), (29 Sept 1997)]
  
  
  
  

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