The Founding Fathers struggled to create a free and equal society, because the colonies had been under the British rule, which oppressed them and gave them no religious freedoms and civil liberties. The colonies were kind of scared that this would happen all over again within this new government. After the Constitution was written in 1787, the new country was directly divided into two political parties, the federalists and the anti-federalists, over the ratification. At that time most of the States believed that the Constitution by itself was enough but others felt that they needed more guarantees. After much debates, the two sides found a middle ground when the Bill of Rights was included into the Constitution in 1791 but it only guaranteed …show more content…
The government cannot take away the freedoms wrote in the Bill of Rights, and any activity that encroaches these liberties are illegal. However, in some cases our civil liberties are restricted. The freedom of speech is protected by the first Amendment; a person has the right to say their opinions about a matter without being scare to be arrest by the government. Nevertheless, in some case such as hate speech, it does not work like that because base on the definition of book “hate speech is a form of expression that hostile toward a particular race, ethnicity, gender, religion, nationality, or sexual orientation” (102). Moreover, Freedom to a peaceful protest is protected by the first Amendment and Supreme Court, which has ruled that peaceable assemblies are to be permissible for all groups, no matter how revolting. However, governments can regulate the time, manner, and place of the meeting as long as it is nonviolence. For instance, in February, 2, 2017, according to Madison Park from CNN, there were a peaceful protest in Berkley California against Trump’s administration that went wrong. The Berkley protests caused $ 100.000 worth in damage. The protesters throw rocks at the police, set fire, use hate speech against Muslim, race, and damage public construction. This doesn’t look like as peaceful assemble, instead this is a massive …show more content…
The 4th Amendment protects from “search home or business search warrant” The Court has protected people homes if the police want to go inside without a search warrant, but there are exceptions to this rule. For example, cars or school lockers are not subject to the same protection as homes are. Moreover, if an evidence is collected illegally, it will not being use at court, no matter how convincing the evidence is. This right is applied to both states and federal government. Next, the 6th Amendment which is the right to have a legal Counsel and a Jury Trial, however, today our criminal justice has been giving unfair trial to people. Base on the article “Innocent until proven Indigent” gives us many facts that explain why the criminal justice is corrupt. The article states that the public defender has been receiving a caseload without enough resource, lack of good defense or attorney, and the public defender don’t have enough time to study the case. However, when police arrest these people, they always read them their Miranda rights which stipule that the individual have the right to have an attorney and if they cannot afford one, the state will appoint them one. Honestly, this law has not been respected because people has been putting in jail unfairly
Throughout history, the United States Constitution has been put to the test over the issue of free speech. The First Amendment states, "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." Even though free speech is one of the core American values proudly embedded in each citizen, some poopAmericans find themselves torn between whether or not to limit the freedom of speech on behalf of hate speech. Most law-abiding citizens disagree with hate speech, but must realize even speech that promotes hate, racism, and even crime
The Constitution of the United States was made through compromises that not everyone agreed on but they came to an agreement on what they thought it should be. Before all of the fifty states were founded there was not a Bill of Rights, it was not until the new government was up and running before the Bill of Rights was added. The reason for this was that the framers of the constitution did not realize that the Bill of Rights was necessary to have at the time. A certainly important choice that was made was how our government was to be
The Articles of Confederation created many problems to the new government, after the Revolutionary War. It contained a weak national government and a strong state government. After the Revolutionary War, many colonists still feared Parliament and the monarchy they were once ruled by. Therefore, they created the Articles of Confederation with a weak national government and gave all the power to the states. But, many individuals did not favor the Articles of Confederation because it gave the states equal representations, no matter how big the state, and did not give the national government the ability to tax. Therefore, the ratifying of the Constitution took place. In this new Constitution, Framers wanted to create a new nation. With a separation of powers, and a new system of checks and balances between each branch. The new Constitution, expelled all of the problems within the Articles of Confederation. But, it did not include the secure liberties that the colonists had fought for. Therefore, the Bill of Rights was proposed in order to secure our blessings of liberty and to ensure that the colonists will never chant, “no taxation without representation,” ever again.
The United States of America was founded on a Constitution that was supposed to preserve our freedoms and certain liberties. All Americans at that time wanted to keep America a free an independent nation with rights for its people. However there was two different groups, the Federalists lead by Alexander Hamilton and the Democratic-Republicans led by Thomas Jefferson, which thought this could be achieved in very different ways.
The Constitution was created in 1781 to solve the problems that the Articles of Confederation had created within the national government. There were two different reactions to the creation of the new government, Federalists and Anti-Federalists. Federalists were the colonists who agreed with the Constitution and believed that we needed a strong national government, while the Anti-Federalists were against the new government and instead wanted to keep the separate state governments. During this time, Anti-Federalists were mostly made up of farmers, while Federalists were wealthy merchants who had more experience with government ideas. The Anti-Federalists believed that there were certain issues in the Constitution that could not be ignored, but
The three amendments that are used to protect the rights of those accused of a crime include, the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment. The Fourth Amendment protects the right of people to be secure in their persons, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures. (Peak, 2015, p.181). The Fifth Amendment protects the accused against self-incrimination, double jeopardy, and life, liberty, and property. Meaning no person will be forced to be a witness against themselves, they cannot be tried for the same offense twice, and their right to life, liberty, and property are protected under the law. (Peak, 2015, p.193). The Sixth Amendment is the right to counsel. Any person who is accused of a crime has the right to counsel for their defense, a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury, to be informed of the nature of their crime which also includes Miranda rights, and to be confronted with the witness against him/her while also having witnesses of their own. (Peak, 2015, p.195). These three Amendments in summary mean to me, that any person who is accused of a crime is innocent until proven guilty and their rights are just as important as anyone else. They have the natural born right to have their rights as citizens protected under the law, and ensure fair treatment from law enforcement officers.
They had been in love with the thought of liberty and believed foreseen rights for man would be good for man’s nature. Knowingly experiencing tyranny from the grand countries, the Fathers constructed the Constitution very carefully in order to avoid tyranny and a government for the people, by the people, and of the people would be developed. The First Amendment was created to ensure that the government would not and could not interfere with American citizens basic civil rights. Being that this Amendment was so important, many states refused to approve such documents as the Constitution until there were amendments that would protect people’s rights in the future. The Founding Fathers made the constitution to where eventually even in today’s days it would protect the rights of American citizens. There is always leeway with in the amendments to where not only does it protect the people of the past, but it protects the
Hate speech is a term of art in legal and political theory that is used to refer to verbal conduct – and other symbolic, communicative action –which willfully attacks a person or group based on attributes such as race, religion, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, or gender. Hate speech thus includes things like identity-prejudicial abuse and harassment, certain uses of slurs and epithets, some extremist political and religious speech. For example, statements to the effect that all Muslims are terrorists, or that gay people are second -class human beings, and certain displays of hate symbols like swastikas or burning crosses are part of it. Those such activities are classified as hate speech if, and insofar as, they convey the idea that belonging to a particular social group warrants someone’s being held in or treated with contempt. However, Freedom of speech is the most important and basic right that a human in every country deserves. Freedom of speech and hate speech are two opposite things. Therefore, the government needs to draw a line between hate speech and freedom of speech to protect a citizen. Hate speech should be banned and extreme speech regulated because it is one of the reasons for many negative consequences in human lives
Freedom of speech, the most quoted right of the United States Constitution but, what does this freedom really mean? People have struggled over this issue time and time again, arguing a whole array of things from total censorship to none at all. According to the First Amendment, "Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech" (First Amendment). Many argue that this gives U.S. citizens the right to say whatever they want, without exception. However, many disagree with this statement (maybe elaborate on this sentence). According to the Supreme Court there are a few exceptions to this freedom. Slander, defamation, fighting words and obscenity are all not protected under the First Amendment. The main issue derived from this is whether or not the government should be able to censor hate speech or if that is a violation of the Constitution. One one hand, it is argued that it should be allowed in order to protect minorities and individuals from being slandered and targeted. On the other hand, it is said that the government should not have that authority, as such laws will undoubtedly lead to censorship in a way that truly does limit free speech. These issues have been discussed and argued over for years, with the focus always returning to the text of the First Amendment. The First Amendment provides valuable guidance to the country and is viable on determining laws and court cases concerning the issue of hate speech in present day America. Although, it has proven
In 1787, the weak form of government brought together by the Articles of Confederation was not doing its justice for the colonists. In the Articles of Confederation, there was only one branch of government, that one branch had no power over the states. This soon proved to be ineffective as a national government for the people. The National Congress had to ask states for financial support and was unable to enforce treaties made with other nations. To remedy this problem the Founding Fathers got together at the Philadelphia Convention to discuss a new plan for the government. The Founding Fathers decided not to revise the Articles of Confederation, but to create a completely new constitution. With so many great minds working on the same thing, it soon became apparent that there were opposing views on certain important issues. The issue causing the most controversy was whether or not a Bill of Rights should be included in the constitution. This issue was so hotly contested that the ratification of the constitution was delayed for a year. The two opposing views were encapsulated by two different parties, the Federalists and Anti-Federalists. Anti-Federalists craved a weak central government with more power left to individual states. Their biggest argument was for the addition of a Bill of Rights to the constitution that would secure the people’s rights. Federalists wanted a stronger central government. The Articles of Confederation was a failure because the states held
In 1788, the U.S. Constitution established America’s national government and state government. The basic function of a Constitution is to recognized basic rights and protection for the citizens. The three branches were created judicial, executive, and legislative also the check and balances was practiced too. The key was there’s no powerful government just like King. After declaration of independence from Britain was made, the people wanted a country far aside from Britain. Unity of the fourteen colonies. The fear of the Shay’s Rebellion outbreak, the central government needed to be strengthen. From this rebellion from farmers, was the formation of the Constitution. Delegates made sure the government wasn’t too strong, the Bill of Right came to play too. The same constitution made from couple hundreds ago still governs the United States.
of speech and hate speech. Freedom of expression belongs to a list of constitutional rights possessed by every American citizen. Given the matter that every individual is allowed to express thoughts and convictions, prohibiting the offensive comments would in fact deny his or her basic rights to freedom of expression. The free speech is the most basic component of free expression and is directly linked to a dynamic democracy. The capacity to assert our sentiments and speak candidly is central to any change in the United States. The freedom of speech bolsters all other human rights, thus allowing culture to advance and evolve at a consistent percentage. Huumanity has evolved thanks to the brilliant minded, fearless trailblazers, who were not afraid to vocalize and protect their beliefs. The majority of these beliefs were contradictory to the conventional mentality and often labeled as blasphemous, just as the recent protests of the national anthem in the NFL have been labeled as unpatriotic.
Hate speech is a term of art in legal and political theory that is used to refer to verbal conduct – and other symbolic, communicative action –which willfully attacks a person or group based on attributes such as race, religion, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, or gender. Hate speech thus includes things like identity-prejudicial abuse and harassment, certain uses of slurs and epithets, some extremist political and religious speech. For example, statements to the effect that all Muslims are terrorists, or that gay people are second -class human beings, and certain displays of hate symbols like swastikas or burning crosses are part of it. Those such activities are classified as hate speech if, and insofar as, they convey the idea that belonging to a particular social group warrants someone’s being held in or treated with contempt. However, Freedom of speech is the most important and basic right that a human in every country deserves. Freedom of speech and hate speech are two opposite things. Therefore, the government needs to draw a line between hate speech and freedom of speech to protect a citizen. Hate speech should be banned and extreme speech regulated because it is one of the reasons for many negative consequences in human lives.
Hate speech and free speech have some differences. According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, hate speech is defined as a, “speech that is intended to insult, offend, or intimidate a person because of some trait” (Merriam Webster Dictionary). Freedom of speech is, “the right to express information, ideas, and opinions free of government restrictions” (Merriam Webster Dictionary). These terms have parallel but contrasting meanings. Everyone has their freedom of speech. Anyone can speak their opinions without worries. Fighting words or hate speech is protected as long as there is no violence according to Kathleen Ann Ruane, a Legislative Attorney. Different college universities are needing to lay out some regulations to their protests so that they can have a safer environment.
Hate speech is one of the most controversial topics discussed in modern society. Some groups believe that it should continue to be protected by free speech laws. However, as hate speech has caused and continues to cause harm in communities around the world, precautions should be taken against it in order to ensure that it does not escalate into physical violence. Hate speech should not be protected under free speech laws because of the physical, societal, and psychological harm it causes to marginalized groups.