Limits Of Freedom Of Speech

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.

Dress codes violate the first amendment. Students should have the ability to express themselves as it is their right to do so, but schools are prohibiting them from being able to express themselves. In the article Are Student Dress Codes a Violation of Civil Rights, Yates Kimberly claims, “If a school district can show that political

As an American citizen, you are entitled to freedom of speech due to the first amendment. This amendment allows you to express any opinion openly without restraint. This freedom can be taken too far however as it becomes hateful, offensive, or threatening, this is referred to as hate speech. Hate speech is usually based off of gender, race, religious group, or sexual orientation. Hate speech is legal due to the freedoms of the first amendment, but some extents of hate speech should be outlawed due to the offensive nature of it and the dangers that may come with it.

Citizens in America are born with a various amount of rights. One of these rights include the freedom of speech and expression. However, school administrators have the ability to restrict a student’s expression. The Supreme Court Cases ‘Bethel School District v. Fraser’ and ‘Frederick V. Morse’ gave schools the right for the administrators to discipline children when they see fit. Students should be able to express themselves in any way without fearing that their school administrators will discipline

Schools that have dress codes are going too far. Dress codes take away students ability to dress and frame their personalities. In an article by Dylan Ankersen he explains how the ability to be free is the “power to write, speak, act or dress as one wants without hindrance” (Akerson). Akerson is saying that people need the power to be who they want and not be told who they want to be. The first amendment says that “ 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”(Bill of Rights).

Freedom of Expression is a right that all Americans can joy on a daily basis, now imagine if it were a controlled right? That doesn’t make it a right, more so something that we can use when the government says so. In November of 1968, 4 students organized a silent protest against the US policies in Vietnam, which ended with suspension from their local schools. The issue was brought up in court, which led to split consensus. The majority opinion of the Supreme Court was that the expression of speech couldn’t be prohibited unless it was a disruption and harmed the rights of others. The dissent opinion stated that if freedom of speech was without a limit to an extent, who says it could lead to school being a platform for the exercise of free speech instead of education. The argument came to the conclusion of defining the rights and freedom of speech for children in school. I agree with the majority opinion, seeing the freedom of expression shouldn’t be controlled and such.

“The mere fact that I exist, means that I deserve to be here and to express myself any damn way I please.” said Euphoria Godsent when talking about the First Amendment. On December 15, 1791, our founding fathers accepted the First Amendment as a part of the constitution. Today, people twist the meaning of the First Amendment to form loopholes in situations, with one of the most guilty being public schools. Most kids go to school from a young age until they transition into adulthood where they also become their own boss, unlike their childhood. Teachers enforce a dress code telling the students what the school allows and denies students the right to wear, which acts as a great example of this. For the most part, students despise the dress code, for a plethora good reasons.What students decide to wear to school acts as a form of symbolic speech, which the First Amendment covers. However, schools claim that the teachers formed the dress code for the benefit of the students. So in the battle between teacher and student, everyone asks whether or not dress codes violate the student's First Amendment. Schools should get rid of dress codes because the way student's dress is a way to express themselves, dress codes can psychologically hurt students, and they violate the student's’ First Amendment.

Firstly, freedom of speech should not be limited because it give students a voice. For example, there was a case in that ended in 1969 called the Tinker v. Des Moines case. “In 1965, when Mary Beth Tinker was 13 years old, she wore a black armband to her junior high school to protest the Vietnam War.” (Wheeler). This showed her spreading her opinion and using her voice that freedom of speech in school gave her. If schools had no limit to freedom of speech, students would be allowed to spread their opinions freely just like Mary did. The Tinker v. Des Moines ended up becoming one of the largest and most important cases in history for freedom of speech in schools. Also, a third grade

The reason is that the First Amendment’s Free Speech Clause requires courts and school districts to weigh and balance two forceful ideas that occasionally clash: The need for a safe, orderly school environment conducive to learning. The guaranteed American entitlement to speak or engage in expressive activity. Some states have passed laws empowering school boards to regulate student dress. For instance, Tennessee has a law allowing school boards to pass

You have the freedom of expression, but what if someone took it away? School uniforms do that. School uniforms started way back in the 1200’s, when the Archbishop of Canterbury mandated that students wear a robe-like outfit called the "cappa clausa." More recently, almost one in five US public schools required students to wear uniforms during the 2011-2012 school year. School uniforms take away the student's right of expression, promotes conformity over individuality and takes away the free, in free schools. Some people may say that school uniforms prevent bullying, but that isn’t always true. Students should not have to wear school uniforms.

Like most democratic nations in the world, the United States has had its own fair share of issues with hate speech. There has been a lot of controversy over whether hate speech should be regulated. In analyzing the concept of free speech, one cannot ignore that it does not occur in a vacuum. There have been all types of debasements ranging from ethnic, religious, racial and gendered stereotyping. Freedom of speech inherently includes all other fundamental human rights. Hence, as acknowledged through natural rights, other rights and personhood should adamantly be included within this scope of this protection. Hate speech is a limit on free speech, as it not only puts the victim under deliberate psychological and physical harm, but also

The issue of liberty in speech has long been a contested issue in the schoolplace. While the constitution guarantees this freedom for all, there are limits placed within the boundaries of these liberties (two particular reasons for each side that often clash with each other were stated by the "Center for Public Education"; "The reason is that the First Amendment’s Free Speech Clause requires courts and school districts to weigh and balance two forceful ideas that occasionally clash: The need for a safe, orderly school environment conducive to learning. [and] The guaranteed American entitlement to speak or engage in expressive activity.") : this is why there should be limitations to freedom of speech for both students and adults in the schoolplace.

Censorship is the limitation of writing or speech that is considered to be harmful to the citizens of the nation. Even though censorship can be carried out by individuals, mostly it’s carried out by the government and used to suppress speeches and media contacts. The idea of censorship spread in Western Europe soon after the printing press in the late 1400s. Before printing, books were made in monasteries, and they decided what to control. The invention, printing press ended the control, monasteries had over written words. Written materials were also made faster and were spread. Soon after the invention, the government started censoring what can be written and distributed (“Censorship”). To protect citizens from the government, the Bill of Rights was created and had the First Amendment in it. The First Amendment was ratified in 1791 in the United States as part of the Bill of Rights and was added to the Constitution ("First Amendment”). It was added as colonists demanded the protection of their individual rights. The Amendment promises its citizens the right to express their thoughts without congress limiting it, however, by starting censorship, congress violated the First Amendment. In addition, congress goes one step further and even makes national laws to suppress speech. The First Amendment is not a viable document because throughout history and still today United States citizens are being punished for saying and expressing

Freedom of speech should have some limitations. The American people should have the right to say whatever they want, but to an extent. Whether it is on signs or verbally some things should not be expressed. The United States is well known for being “the home of the free,” but some people take their freedom a bit too far. People can burn flags, protest at military funerals, even use the “n” word and watching pornography in libraries.

Lately, there is the growing attitude is that the freedom of speech only applies to those who you agree with. There is a, “Sure you have the freedom of speech, as long as I agree with what you say” mentality among young people. The first amendment I guess is just some silly phrase. In general, conservative speakers are the target of this mentality. While this is true as a generality, the specific instances being discussed in this paper will relate to the shutdown, or “shout-down,” of conservative speakers on college campuses by leftist students and the infamous Antifa organization who is shockingly celebrated by lots of people on the left.