In the 1920 case of United States ex rel. Milwaukee Social Democratic Publishing Company v. Burleson, Postmaster General of the United States, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Albert S. Burleson, who had revoked second-class mailing privileges from a socialist newspaper during World War I under an act that gave him authority to do so if he believed it was being used for treasonable or seditious purposes. The Milwaukee Social Democratic Publishing Company argued this violated their First Amendment rights and sought reinstatement of their mailing privileges through a writ of mandamus (a court order compelling someone to perform an action). However, the Supreme Court held that revocation did not infringe upon freedom of speech as it didn't prevent publication but merely increased postage costs; furthermore, they found no abuse in discretion by Burleson since there were reasonable grounds for his belief about misuse given wartime conditions.

In the dissenting opinion for the case of United States ex rel. Milwaukee Social Democratic Publishing Company v. Burleson, Justice Holmes argued that freedom of speech and press should not be suppressed unless it poses a clear and present danger to society or government operations. He contended that while wartime may necessitate certain restrictions on these freedoms, such limitations must still meet this standard to be justified under law. In his view, the Postmaster General's refusal to allow mailing privileges for The Milwaukee Leader newspaper did not meet this threshold as there was no evidence presented showing an immediate threat posed by its publication during World War I. Furthermore, he expressed concern about potential abuse of power in censoring materials based solely on their content without proper justification.