Free Speech

Free Speech

  • Submitted By: tiggercat
  • Date Submitted: 03/04/2009 3:04 PM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 1429
  • Page: 6
  • Views: 811

Free Speech for You and Me

“George bush is a closet Homo.” Is this an example of free speech or is the person fueling a “call to arms” by wearing a statement like this? The reactions this statement might incite are not only hurtful to George Bush as a person but are hostile to an entire group of individuals who have nothing to do with him. Rather than attack George Bush’s sexual orientation, an opinion on his tax record or his stand on stem cell research might have been a more appropriate example of free speech. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution, which guarantees a basic freedom for citizens of the United States, reads “Congress shall make no law respecting the 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.” This declaration is the basic principle definition of “free speech”. Most U.S. citizens believe that this principle ensures that our voices are simultaneously protected by the government and from the government. It does not guarantee that any particular individual’s beliefs are correct only that they may state their belief. The misconception that free speech permits a person to say anything leads us to realize that the term needs to be defined so as to inform more people as to the common meaning. Free speech may be defined to mean that individuals may express their opinions in a civilized manner, so as not to incite others into lawlessness.
Clearly, this definition of free speech does not include the right to do or say just anything, especially if it instigates unwarranted turbulence. An individual may “take to the soapbox” on any street corner to voice his/her opinions, on any topic, but not if injury to others is the result of speaking those opinions. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, in the landmark case of Schenck v....

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