A man starts yelling "fire, fire" in a movie theatre, the stampede towards the exits results in injuries (even deaths) among the cinema-goers. Restraining or punishing the man would technically violate his freedom of speech, allowing such "freedom" would result in injuries and deaths to innocent bystanders, what should be the logical course of justice? The concept of a "clear and present danger" annunciated by US Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes involved the "freedom of speech" and licence thereof. He maintained that when any individual misuses any freedom (in this case of speech) and endangers others the concept of application of justice must recognise the situation as a "clear and present danger" and restrain the individual, relying more on logic and the spirit of the law rather than the pure letter of the law.
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