Freedom_of_Speech

Research Paper Freedom. All of us have heard this word but what does it mean' Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship of limitation, or both (Wikipedia). “It is easy to take liberty for granted, when you have never had it taken from you”-author unknown. Why is it that as Americans some of us are so unwilling to fight for our freedoms' Our freedom of speech is slowing being taken from us without our awareness. People all over the world use speech to express our thoughts and ideas. Most countries are not allowed to have this great freedom. Some people still express themselves through speech but the consequences could be and are severe. As Americans we should be happy knowing that we have our freedoms. Ensuring our freedoms has cost a lot of brave men and women their lives. Included below is the history of freedom of speech, the limitations and an issue that happened in Las Vegas. Freedom of speech has a long and dangerous history for our country. The United States constitution was signed on September 17, 1787 but it did not include the freedoms our forefathers wanted for this country. Thomas Jefferson wanted to make sure we had freedom of speech and freedom of religion put into the constitution. In his home town of Virginia, Jefferson made sure freedom of speech and religion were put into the state constitution. After that Jefferson’s main priority was to persuade James Madison to make the Bill of Rights (About.com). The Bill of Rights was put into effect on December 15, 1791 when it was ratified by the state of Virginia. The Bill of Rights contains the first ten amendments of the constitution. The Bill of Rights protects the American citizens from the power of the federal government. The first amendment states 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, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances”. After the Second World War ended the United Nations accepted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees the right of freedom of speech and the sense of right and wrong to all people. Article 19 states that “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without inference and to seek, receive and impact information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”. Freedom of speech has been accepted by regional conventions all over the world. Freedom of speech is recognized across the world but the interpretation and the use of the law differs greatly (newworldencyclopedia.org). Even though many people think because they are protected under the first amendment that they can say whatever they want but that is not true. The first time freedom of speech was considered, that right was subject to restrictions and exceptions. Not long after the constitution guaranteed freedom of speech the law quickly imposed limitations on the first amendment. In the United States it was a crime to publish “false, scandalous and malicious writing” against the government and their officials. This was put into effect by the Sedition Act of 1798. There are three types of speech: fully protected speech, limited protected speech and unprotected speech. Fully protected speech is speech that the government can not prohibit or regulate (Cheeseman). Oral, written and symbolic speech are all protected under the first amendment. Limited protected speech is speech that the government can not forbid this type of speech but it can subject the speech to time, place and manner restriction (Cheeseman). Offensive and commercial speech is forms of limited speech. Offensive is speech that is offensive to many members of society (Cheeseman). Commercial speech is speech used by businesses such as advertising (Cheeseman). Unprotected speech is speech that is not protected by the first amendment and may be forbidden by the government. Examples of this include dangerous speech, fighting words, speech that provokes violence, defamatory language, child pornography and obscene speech. Obscene speech is speech that appeals to the prurient interest, depicts sexual conduct in a patently offensive way, and lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value (Cheeseman). All of us have the right to express our freedom of speech to a certain extend but, is the line drawn to often. On July 17, 2006 Brittany McComb was giving her speech for being Valedictorian when her microphone was cut. Her microphone was cut because she mentioned God in her speech. She thanked her Lord and Savior for being apart of her life. Our country was founded on God. All of our currency says “In God We Trust”. Under the fully protected speech it says that “the first amendment protects oral, written and symbolic speech”(Cheeseman). McComb did have symbolic references in her speech. She was not preaching about her religion during the speech but thanking the Lord for helping her accomplish so much. The Article states that the Clark County School Board amended district regulations on religious free speech, prohibiting district officials from organizing a prayer at graduation or selecting speakers for such events in a manner that favors religious speech or prayer.(ReviewJournal.com) It goes on to say the remainder of the amendment allows for religious expression during school ceremonies. The School Board is a walking contradiction because a graduation ceremony is a school ceremony. All the School Board had to do was to say this speech is not school sponsored that way they would not have had to worry about nasty letters or being sued. One would have to think if another was valedictorian and they started to thank allah or another religion, would they have done the same. People now a days are so afraid to stand up for what they believe in. I can respect and side with McCombs for stand up and staying with her initial speech. Our freedom of speech is so important to Americans that we must fight everyday to keep it. Included above was the history of freedom of speech, the limitations and an article that took place in Las Vegas. “We have enjoyed so much freedom for so long that we are perhaps in danger of forgetting how much blood it cost to establish the Bill of Rights”. ~Felix Frankfurter American citizens need to stand up for our rights because it has cost so many men and women their lives to protect it and if you are not a citizen in United States you are not entitled to any of our rights. Works Cited 1. www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Jun-17-Sat-2006.news/8014416.html 2. http://civilliberty.about.com/od/firstamendment.tp.First-Amendment.htm 3. www.firstamendmentcenter.org/about.aspx'item=about_firstamd 4. Henry R. Cheeseman. Business Law (6thed).Pearson.prenticeHall. UpperSaddleRiver,NewJersey