As Holmes matured, he came to reject the limitations on press freedom in the Patterson v. Colorado opinion. Working with Justice Louis Brandeis, Holmes developed a libertarian approach to First Amendment law, centered on the famous “clear and present danger” test, which was intended to protect from criminal punishment writings not proven to be very closely connected to criminal actions. By 1919, Holmes explicitly rejected the common law of seditious libel in no uncertain terms:

I wholly disagree with the argument of the Government that the First Amendment left the common law as to seditious libel in force. History seems to me against the notion. ^[293]

Holmes’s view of history reflected that of some leading historical scholars of his day who published works asserting that

[293] Abrams v. United States, 250 U.S. 616, 631 (1919) (Holmes dissenting)