Is Freedom Of Speech Equally Free?

Most obviously there is a line between free speech and discrimination, free speech and bullying, free speech and defamation, free speech and religious intolerance ect. No matter the law or the right there is always certain restriction that are imposed to keep tolerance exercising in a conflicted society

This year’s election alone has brought about many emotions and deep rooted feelings that have not come out in years. Hate speech and actions carried out because of hate speech has cause a deep division in American culture. Groups like “Black Lives Matter”, “All Lives Matter”, and “Alt-Right” are all under fire for things that have been said or done in the names of these groups. There has been terrorist attacks in the names of religious groups whom believe that a newspaper or group has insulted their religion, beliefs, and gods. Not to mention our own President Elect of the United States, Donald Trump, has been accused of fueling much of the hate speech we see today. This begs the question, should freedom of speech have any restrictions or be limited in any way, or is that unconstitutional? To look at this we must first identify what “Freedom of Speech” is as defined in the constitution and how it relates to current issues in the world and in America, then I will talk about some situations where regulation is already put in place in America, lastly we will look at some situations where I believe freedom of speech could use some clarification or restriction.

“Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech.” (Jacobus 93). Just like the Freedom of Religion there are limitations placed on the Freedom of Speech so that other people’s rights aren’t compromised. For example, people are not allowed to present true threats, or “fighting words” to another person. This restriction was put into play in the court case of Chaplinsky vs. New Hampshire. The Court ruled that “fighting words, by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace and may be punished consistent with the First Amendment.” (Ruane 3-4). In this case if someone was to use “fighting words” which is their perceived freedom of speech, it would not only violate the law, it could violate someone’s freedom of pursue life, liberty, and happiness. With this, we can see that freedom is not always as it

Free speech is by far the most commonly recognized freedom in our everyday lives. The freedom of speech allows us to voice our own opinions without the severe repercussions of some countries. It allows us to say what we really feel and helps us learn how to communicate in true and meaningful ways. Along with this freedom, we must remember that there are limits to this freedom. While being arrested “you have the right to remain silent” and anything you say can be used against you in court. This freedom is not one to be taken for

Freedom of speech is one of those very controversial issues. I feel pretty strongly about our right to freedom of speech. In other countries you could be killed for saying negative things about your government.

Free speech shall not incite evil and hatred in this country. The First Amendment prevents the government from infringing upon our freedom of assembly and speech. “The disability is so complete that Congress is expressly forbidden to enact laws respecting an establishment of religion, or laws abridging the free exercise of religion, freedom of speech and press, and the right to petition the government” (Bybee). As a whole, our founding fathers only had good intentions with regards to First Amendment rights in America.

To begin with, the American Government has created many unconstitutional laws such as the Sedition Act of 1918 ( an act passed in 1918 that if anyone talked negatively about the government or war efforts it was punishable by long periods of jail time or death penalty after December 13,1920 the act was repealed due to citizens expressing displeasure) , which restricts the first right to freedom of speech.Freedom of speech, it’s becoming questionable on how free speech actually is in the United States. Watson states , there has been a “seven-teen percent increase in cases of people speaking out against the government , which can be punishable by jail time” , or as conspiracy theorist believe death.The restriction of freedom of speech comes from lack of active participation in American politics .The most recent case that is similar to the Sedition Act of 1918 occurred in 2012 a male citizen named Tarek

The freedom of speech is one of the most precious rights that the United States citizens have. Unlike many other countries, the United States citizens have the freedom to speak their minds and to give their opinions on anything as long as it is done in a peaceful manner without having any fear of governmental retaliation. “The First Amendment guarantees our right to free expression and free association, which means that the government does not have the right to forbid us from saying what we like and writing what we like.” This does not mean that a person can say whatever he or she wants to say, but rather that a person’s right to say something is protected within certain limits.

The First Amendment of the constitution is the most significant political statement in the history of the United States. The ability to speak freely is a value that is cherished by most American citizens. In many countries around the world, people are sent to prison, or even executed, for expressing opinions not shared by the government. In the United States, any government official, no matter how powerful, must abide by the opinions of the people, even when those opinions are brutal, or even unfair. Free speech is probably the best known and most revered of our constitutional rights in the U.S., but it not always easy to define what exactly is speech. As humans, we have many ways of expressing our thoughts, opinions, and beliefs. Especially, since we are part of an innovative society that is constantly evolving.

That applies greatly to the freedoms of expression guaranteed to us by the Bill of Rights as well. Over the years, court cases have specified what Madison meant when he wrote that citizens would have freedom of speech, religion, press, and assembly. We all follow the same basic restrictions on freedom of expression which fall into the three categories of time, place, and manner. When looking into the potential limits of freedom of expression, you must understand the cause and effects of the people using those rights on the people as a whole. In Abrams v. United States, the defendants threw leaflets out the window that contained material that were said to be against the U.S.’s actions to impede the Russian Revolution. The court found them guilty for resisting the war effort and calling for the curtailment of war products. Was this a violation of the defendant’s right to freedom of speech? No, this was not a violation of the first amendment to freedom of speech because it was claimed that there was a call for violent action or a riot during a fragile time in the U.S. Although cases in which freedom of speech are discussed are often highly controversial, it is only because of the importance of both the freedom of speech as well as the limits on freedom of

An important thing to know about freedom of speech is it does not actually protect anything we want to say. However freedom of speech is something that the United States holds high. The first amendment of our constitution is one of the most important amendments we have to protect us. The first amendment gives us the right to free speech with very few limits. Even though this may not be the best policy it is important we protect any speech so long as it is not harming anyone. The constitution says “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. (Madison)” This is saying that the freedom of speech is protected by the constitution and congress cannot make laws to limit anything covered by freedom

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution states that government “shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech . . . .” U.S. Const. amend. I. Nevertheless, the First Amendment protection of free speech is not absolute; even protected speech is not equally permissible in all places and at all times. ACLU of Nev. v. City of Las Vegas, 333 F.3d 1092, 1098 (9th Cir. 2003). However, traditional public forums such as streets,

Free speech should not be restricted.  The first amendment gives the right for anyone to say whatever he or she wants, whenever they want and guarantees us the privilege to speak our minds without limitations.   Our right to free speech is one thing that sets the United States apart from any other country.  Since September 11, 2001 all

Is Freedom Of Speech a true thing? You might want to think again. Over the past couple of centuries it has changed. You used to be able to say anything and everything you wanted. Now you say something and you are immediately thrown in jail. Like what happened to Bradley Manning over the past year and a half. He released documents about military killing innocent people and what does our government do? They threw him in jail. The military did not comment on the situation because they knew it was true. He wanted people knowing what they did was wrong and he got in trouble for it. I do not see that they should have thrown him in jail. What my concern is do we actually have Freedom Of Speech? Are we allowed

Freedom of speech is limited in almost every area of a person's life. For instance, a tennis player will be fined heavily during a tennis tournament if he expresses himself with foul language on the tennis court. This obviously curtails the right of the tennis player to express himself freely, but it protects the decency of the spectators because certain forms of language are not proper for some situations. If a person goes to the movies and begins to carry on a conversation it is most probable that security will ask him to leave the theater. By restricting his freedom of speech, the movie theater has protected the right of the person who went to enjoy a movie. The American courts have stated that the freedom of speech would not protect a man from falsely yelling "fire" in a theater and so creating a clear and present danger (Stone, Seidman). Therefore, the freedom of speech cannot be abused.