United States v. Bell

Offenses in which persons who profess heterodox doctrines are involved present problems which either do not exist in ordinary prosecutions or, if they do exist, are not pressed for solution. This for the reason that once we enter the realm of opinion, our American tradition of liberalism makes many persons and groups who do not condone the acts of the particular defendants, or do not share their ideas or the norms of their philosophy, interest themselves in their fate. They do this in pursuit of our ideal of free expression and to guard against the danger that persons might be prosecuted or condemned, contrary to the spirit of our constitutional liberty. It is right that it should be so. For, ultimately, the test of our belief in freedom of expression is “freedom for the thought that we hate”. At the same time, in considering the motions to suppress and return evidence, we should not overlook the fact that the offense charged here, while connected with the realm of ideas, is, in reality, conspiracy. SO U.S.C.A. § 34.

Conspiracy, ordinarily, consists in uniting to violate any of the hundreds of statutory provisions contained in the Criminal Code and the regulatory statutes of the…