Freedom Of Speech: America's Gift To My Generation

After reading the transcript of the speech, “The Spirit of Liberty”, given by federal judge for more than 50 years, Learned Hand, who served most of the time on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York, my idea of what it means to be an American was slightly shifted. The statement made by Hand which really caught my attention was, “What do we mean when we say that first of all we seek liberty? I often wonder whether we do not rest our hopes too much upon constitutions, upon laws and upon courts. These are false hopes.” I agree with Hand in the sense that the constitution can only serve purpose to our country if we, as Americans, learn to be truly accepting.

Freedom of speech is the balance between personal liberty & government authority. Free speech started & began when the settlers came over to the United States from Europe & made the original British colonies (Freedom Of Speech, 2014). Because of this right being made, having the liberty of free speech means that an individual or the press have the absolute right to talk or express their opinions freely (Freedom Of Speech, 2014).

Freedom is defined as the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wishes without hindrance or fear of being reprimanded. Since the age of the thirteen colonies, freedom has been the goal for all American citizens. We strive to make freedom a right, not just in our own country, but in other countries that seek assistance from the rest of the world. Ask anyone, and they will know someone who has bravely served in our nation’s military to protect that right.

When the Constitution was created, the first amendment stated that everyone in the United States has the freedom of speech; including Christians. Recently, there have been cases where Christians are being persecuted for their faith shown through what they have said and/or have done. This shows that Christians’ free speech is being violated.

The United States was built on a foundation of freedom and independence. British citizens wanted to freely practice their religion without government control, which led to the United States’ existence. Freedom of Speech, defined as “the legal right to express one's opinions freely” (Merriam-Webster), is a crucial part of western society; without it, western society would be significantly different. Freedom of Speech is important; however, its limitations have been heavily debated since its existence, especially in the court of law.

A poll was done in 1991, where it was found only 33% of adults knew what the point of having the bill of rights was for. Also, only 19% of adults know that the first amendment includes freedom of religion. Out of how many of those people realize that our soldiers fight for these freedoms so we can continue to have a successful country? People today should know why soldiers go out to war and what they fight for. The government should uphold no cruel and unusual punishment, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion to honor soldiers who gave their “last full measure of devotion” and to ensure “these dead shall not have died in vain”.

There is a famous written saying that adheres to the attitude of every important figure throughout world history, “I disapprove of what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” This statement allows all individuals to say and be who they wish to be in our society today (Hall, 1906, p. 199).

The word Freedom means the right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. To me it means that I can talk about what I want, do what I can do, with nothing stopping me.

The first amendment of the United States’ Bill of Rights states “Congress shall make no law... prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,”. Freedom of speech tends to be the most appreciated part of this amendment, while also causing the most anger. Most hate speech is protected under it, causing loads of controversy of the years. If the speech is not active fighting words threatening the livelihood of somebody, you’re allowed to say whatever you want. A landmark case in confirming this was the 2010 case of Snyder v. Phelps; the fight between the family of a soldier killed on duty, and America’s most hated family.

As citizens of the United States of America we as human beings have certain unalienable rights listed in The Declaration of Independence, among those are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And among our many liberties one of them listed in our constitution in the 1st amendment is the right to freedom of speech. However, like many liberties, freedom of speech is not absolute under the supreme law of land. What this means is that yes we do have freedom of speech, but it is not protected by the government if it includes obscenity, defamation, fraud, incitement, true threats and speech integral to already criminal conduct. White, K. (2017, June 08) Speech is an important part of our democracy, it gives us the right to speak freely

The First Amendment of the U.S. constitution states “Congress shall make no law [...] 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.” However, the right to freedom of speech has limits, including violence, inciting a riot, libel or slander and yelling fire in a theatre. At a private company, such as the NFL, there are even more limits to this freedom, depending on the organization’s terms and conditions and any contracts that must be signed by members.

Within today’s society, the freedom of speech has become an extremely controversial topic. There are various opinions on freedom of speech, however, philosopher John Stuart Mill argued that “[i]f all mankind minus one were of one opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person that he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind” (1859, p. 14). Mill sides with freedom of speech being vital for all of humanity. Having the ability to speak one’s thoughts and opinions is crucial not only for the individual, but for society as a whole. The right to speak one’s mind openly and freely about certain topics without the fear of high authoritative figures suppressing those opinions, while keeping in mind not to harm others is what freedom of speech is truly about. Freedom of speech is a basic human right to every individual, although the way you present and utilize your opinions on a specific topic has to be within limits; meaning if it harms individuals and/or society, the law can then intervene.

The first amendment gives the people the freedom of speech, press, assembly, and petition. It also reserves the right for the people to choose their own religion by not allowing an established religion. However, there are restrictions to these rights in the law. Such restrictions include obscenity, profanity, libel and slander, fighting words, and clear and present danger. These restrictions are in place to protect the people. One law that goes against freedom of speech is the clear and present danger doctrine. This doctrine allows the government to punish words that "produce a clear and present danger of a serious substantive evil that rises far above public inconvenience, annoyance, and unrest;" this means although the people can say speak freely they cannot say anything that will cause panic. However, there is also the void-for-overbreadth doctrine, that protects speech invalidating laws written so broadly that the fear of prosecution creates a chilling effect that discourages people from exercising that freedom. The first landmark court case that ended up limiting the first amendment is Schenck v. United States. In this landmark case, Schenck mailed out a two-page flyer telling draftees to standup against the draft encouraging insubordination in the military and charged with conspiracy to violate the Espionage Act. The court's decision was that Congress has the power to prevent and restrict speech that prevents a clear and present danger. Thus, creating the clear and

Imagine yourself as an Oxford University student in the twentieth century, being at one of the most prestigious and highly recognized research intuitions in the world. This puts enormous pressure on the university itself to uphold a positive image. Students at Oxford University are being silenced on issues regarding politics, the war on terror, gender equality, and many other social issues around the world. What if students want to express their opinions in a public manner? They should be aloud to do so without the worry of having any negative repercussions from the media or the University itself. Platforming is restricting the free speech of the students as well as their basic rights and freedoms. I believe students should not have a platform to speak because arguments could be misrepresented from the platform it self, as well no-platforming fails to give students their right to free speech.

What is free speech? Freedom of speech is the right to be allowed to say controversial things without punishment. The first amendment is the right of freedom of speech to all Americans. In addition, Americans have rights and laws they abide by, from gun laws to free speech. Free speech has a long history in America, from its beginnings in 1791, to artist in their crafts and to civilian’s rights to speak up and make a difference. Free speech differs from hate speech in a few ways, one being that free speech can be walked away from, hate speech is something forced upon a person. Although free speech is controversial, America protects it to give its citizens the freedom they deserve.