Freedom of Speech
By: Grant Taylor
What is it?
- Freedom of speech is located in the 1st amendment of the Bill of Rights.
- The Freedom of speech along with Freedom of Assembly, Freedom of Press, and freedom of Religion make up what we call Freedom of Expression.
- Freedom of Speech gives a citizen protection to have and voice their own opinion about anything they so choose to. (Voice can be verbally and non-verbally)
What Freedom of Speech Does Not Protect
- Ex: You cannot shout "FIRE!" in a theater when there is no fire.
The ability to make or spread obscene material. (Pictures, Videos, Speeches... etc..)
- Ex: Roth vs. U.S.
To burn draft cards for an anti-war protest
- Ex: U.S. vs. O'Brien
Foundation of Democracy
- Without Free Speech we might as well give up all our other rights.
- We wouldn't be able to protest peacefully.
- We wouldn't be able to make art, comics, or music criticizing the govt.
- We might as well include that our votes would mean nothing.
- So, Freedom of Speech is crucial for us to remain "free" and with "power" as said within the constitution.
Examples of Court Cases About Freedom of Speech
Roth vs. U.S. (1957)
- The ruling was 6 to 3 and was deemed unconstitutional. Therefore any obscene material is still not protected under the constitution.
U.S. vs. O'Brien
- The ruling turned out to be 7 to 1, and it was decided that O'Brien was not expressing his freedom of speech, but destroying government property. It also had been told that O'Brien's Draft card was in need of urgency or a need from the government which also made it illegal to burn because it was sufficient, or needed for the good of the government.
Conclusion
Bibliography
Web:
https://www.aclu.org/issues/free-speech
https://www.oyez.org/cases/1956/582
https://www.oyez.org/cases/1967/232
Pictures:
http://moufawad-paul.blogspot.com/2012/02/whos-speech-and-for-whom.html
https://www.orangewebsite.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/shutterstock_187662866.jpg
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/SdRhnsKLMBk/maxresdefault.jpg
http://jewishcurrents.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Samuel-Roth.jpg
http://www.codinglegend.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/freedom-of-speech-quotes-ab0ozevx.jpg
http://www.thefederalistpapers.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/BF-FreedomOfSpeech.jpg
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/56/71/e4/5671e4f5b00001b0dc39fe801dd71c8c.jpg