the smith act definition
Smith Act. (also Alien Registration Act), an act passed by the Congress of the USA on June 28, 1940; named for H. Smith, the congressman who introduced the measure. The Smith Act made it a crime to advocate or teach the duty, necessity, or propriety of overthrowing the government by force or violence. When the act was passed it was assumed that it would be used against agents of fascist governments in the USA.