The freedom of speech: part one
December 2, 2019|Think about it…
The year is 1791. Slavery is not abolished yet, the civil war is far from coming into play, The United States is newly free from british rule, and George Washington is president. Monumental events that change United States history are yet to happen BUT, one event that will be a mark that makes the United States different than others. A staple of the United States has been created and will stand. In the year 1791, the Bill of Rights was ratified, and the first 10 amendments are put into play. The right to freedom of speech was born.
Our right to speak freely has been fine tuned and molded throughout the years with new laws being passed extending and restricting this right for the people. This right makes the United States vastly different than other countries who restrict that right. We have the freedom of press which lets us publish any information we want, even about our government. In other countries even mentioning anything negative about that government can lead to severe punishment. But that does not mean we can say anything and be off free as a bird.
This dive into the changing of the cultural impact of this significant right will be a three part series through history and society. This series will be accompanied with videos as well. So, writing freely, let’s get started.
Part one
We can say anything we want. We hate them, we think this or that or whatever our opinion is. But the words we speak are sometimes not without penalty later. So what are these restrictions? The first is incitement: The action of provoking unlawful behavior or urging someone to behave unlawfully. In 2017, a Massachusetts Juvenile court ruled repeadidly encouraging someone to commit suicide was not protected by the first admendment becasue of incitement. So if one is encouraging violence and an action is committed and danger is present, it will not be protected by the first amendment and that person would face the law.
The next restriction is offensive speech. This one has changed over time and is a big conversation in our current media climate but we will dive more into that in part two and three. In Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942), The supreme court ruled that id speech provokes a violent reaction it will not be protected by the 1st amendment. Some of you may remember the infamous Westboro Baptist church protests back in 2010. Their protests were deemed offensive by the supreme court. (Snyder v. Phelps).
This one is commonly known among the people. You cannot threaten the President of the United States. It is illegal to willingly make any threat to kidnap, murder, cause bodily harm to the President. I know our current political climate, people have become increasingly vocal about their opinions. Just make sure you watch your words. No one wants to end up in jail for some words that were spoken that could have been kept to themselves. This code is stated under Title 18 section 871 of the United States Code. this also includes the Vice President, and any other officer in succession of the office.
These are the main exceptions to the 1st admendment. The others include anytbing to do woth child pornography, commerical speech, and speech owned by others.
Stay tuned as part two will be presented soon. My name is Logan Perkins and this is The Perks of News.
