The Supreme Court has not confronted questions about whether the law’s wording or application trammels First Amendment rights.

NYT is incorrect here. It has been challenged by the supreme court. The first time they applied the espionage act against Eugene Debs for his "anti war" speech, he appealed to the supreme court. They determined free speech DOES NOT apply when the country "is at times of war"

Which is you know, really reassuring from the country that invented forever-wars™