Freedom of Expression
Laura Lantrip
Alina Mihelin
1st Amendment
•
•
“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.”The Constitution
Originally, the First Amendment only applied to the Congress.
However, in the 20th century, the Supreme Court held that the Due
Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment applies the First
Amendment to each state, including any local government.
Schenck v. United States (1919)
•
•
Charles Schenck sent out anti-draft leaflets encouraging young men
not to participate in war. He was convicted.
The decision was unanimous that Schenck should have his First
Amendment right to freedom of expression taken away due to
insubordination during wartime. Words spoken that are a “clear and
present danger” to national security are not protected by the First
Amendment.
Gitlow v. New York (1925)
•
•
Gitlow, a socialist, was arrested for distributing copies of a "left-wing
manifesto" that called for the establishment of socialism through strikes
and class action of any form. Gitlow was convicted under a state
criminal anarchy law, which punished advocating the overthrow of the
government by force. Gitlow argued that since his publications didn’t
incite anarchy, he hadn’t committed a crime. New York court said that
since he advocated an overthrow, it was an equal offense.
The Supreme Court decided that dangerous speech should be
prohibited and that any person will be convicted whether their speech
created any danger at all, despite the provisions of the First
Amendment.
Miller v. California (1973)
•
•
Miller mass-mailed “adult” material advertisement to some unwilling
California residents.
In a 5-to-4 decision, the Court held that obscene materials did not enjoy
First Amendment protection because the work depicts or describes, in
a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the
applicable state law or the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious
literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.
Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)
•
•
John Tinker, 15 years old, his sister Mary Beth Tinker, 13 years old, and
Christopher Echardt, 16 years old, decided along with their parents to protest
the Vietnam War by wearing black armbands to their Des Moines schools during
the Christmas holiday season. Upon learning of their intentions, and fearing that
the armbands would provoke disturbances, the principals of the Des Moines
school district resolved that all students wearing armbands be asked to remove
them or face suspension. When the Tinker siblings and Christopher wore their
armbands to school, they were asked to remove them. When they refused, they
were suspended until after New Year's Day.
The wearing of armbands was "closely akin to 'pure speech'" and protected by
the First Amendment. School environments imply limitations on free expression,
but here the principals lacked justification for imposing any such limits.The
principals had failed to show that the forbidden conduct would substantially
interfere with the learning environment.
Texas v. Johnson (1989)
•
•
In 1984, in front of the Dallas City Hall, Gregory Lee Johnson burned
an American flag as a means of protest against Reagan administration
policies. Johnson was tried and convicted under a Texas law outlawing
flag desecration. He was sentenced to one year in jail and assessed a
$2,000 fine. After the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the
conviction, the case went to the Supreme Court.
In a 5-to-4 decision, the Court held that Johnson's burning of a flag was
protected expression under the First Amendment. "[i]f there is a
bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the
Government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because
society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable."
Ashcroft v. ACLU (2004)
•
•
Congress passed the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) to prevent
minors from accessing pornography online. The American Civil
Liberties Union (ACLU) and online publishers sued in federal court to
prevent enforcement of the act, arguing that it violated the Free Speech
clause of the First Amendment.
The Supreme Court ruled that COPA is a violation of the First
Amendment. Congress was not able to show that COPA was the most
effective way to prevent minors from accessing adult content. The SC
agreed that there were less oppressive ways to do so.
Timeline
• Passage of the First Amendment->Passage of the
Fourteenth Amendment->Schenck v. US->Gitlow v.
New York->Tinker v. Des Moines->Miller v.
California->Texas v. Johnson->Ashcroft v. ACLU
• As the years have progressed, the SC has realized
that anything that brings harm to the country or
another human being is not protected by the First
Amendment. This does not include things that are
offensive to others.
Cartoony
Cartoony
Media
•
http://video.google.com/videoplay?d
ocid=6251392055118871604#docid=1718524145149065035
• http://www.americanfilms.com/play.cfm?
clipid=355