This phrase was coined when the government, having arrested somebody for handing out leaflets opposing the draft in WW1, claimed that handing out leaflets opposing the draft was the moral equivalent of shouting fire in a crowded theater.
This phrase was coined when the government, having arrested somebody for handing out leaflets opposing the draft in WW1, claimed that handing out leaflets opposing the draft was the moral equivalent of shouting fire in a crowded theater.