18 October 2007
Freedom of Speech
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,” as Evelyn Beatrice Hall writing as S. G. Tallentyre wrote in her biography of Voltaire. Freedom of speech is one of our most basic rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution. But what exactly is freedom of speech?
There are several definitions of freedom of speech. It is the “liberty to speak and otherwise express oneself and one’s opinion.” The Columbia Encyclopedia. Dictionary.com Unabridged defines it as “the right of people to express their opinions publicly without government interference, subject to the laws against libel, incitement to violence or rebellion, etc.” Worldnet describes it as “a civil right guaranteed by the First Amendment to the US Constitution.” Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law says it is “the right to express information, ideas, and opinions free of government restrictions based on content and subject only to reasonable limitations (as the power of the government to avoid a clear and present danger) esp. as guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.”
When one thinks of freedom of speech one often thinks of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King was arrested many times during his push for equal rights for all races. For instance, he was arrested in 1963 for expressing free speech in Birmingham, Alabama, along with several other ministers leading the protest for desegregated department store facilities and fair hiring. Perhaps the most shining example of free speech is Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech he gave at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963. But even his popularity after that speech did not prevent him from being arrested and jailed in 1965 for protesting discrimination in voter registration; once again expressing his right to free speech.
Frederick Douglass, a former slave, in his speech, “A Plea for Free Speech in Boston” (1860) said, "No right was deemed by the fathers of the Government more sacred that the right of speech…. There can be no right of speech where any man, however lifted up, or however humble, however young, or however old, is overawed by force, and compelled to suppress his honest sentiments. Equally clear is the right to hear. To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker. It is just as criminal to rob a man of his right to speak and hear as it would be to rob him of his money." We not only have a right to speak freely, we also have a right to hear what someone has to say. How else would we be able to determine a political candidate to endorse? How else would we decide what brand of toilet tissue to buy?
A person cannot be prosecuted for saying they do not like President Bush or the war in Iraq, but they can be arrested for making a threat of harm against the president. An American soldier returning from war does not want to hear they are a “baby killer,” but the person saying it has the right to say it. This is a perfect example of we may not like what someone has to say, but we will defend their right to say it. A letter to the editor of a newspaper may criticize a governor with libelous comments regarding a sexual liaison, but he cannot be prosecuted if what the letter says is true.
The First Amendment to the Constitution for the United States of America says, “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.” James Madison’s original version stated that “the people shall not be deprived or abridged of the right to speak, to write, or to publish their sentiments; and the freedom of the press, as one of the great bulwarks of liberty, shall be inviolable.” This does not mean that we can go into a crowded theater and shout “Fire!” when there is no fire. This was determined in Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47 (S. Ct. 1919) when Schenck, a member of the Socialist party, used the United States Postal Service to mail circulars that sought to cause insubordination in the military and to disrupt military recruitment by encouraging men to ignore the draft. This circular was held to be in direct violation of the Espionage Act passed just two years earlier. In his decision Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. stated, "The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic. […] The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent." This is why when a person jokes about hijacking an airplane having a bomb in an airport they are immediately arrested.
Free speech also applies to articles of clothing, such as the graphic t-shirts some people wear. Some t-shirts proclaim religious messages, while others have comments that say one thing but mean something else, such as a double entendre. Most schools have banned graphic t-shirts from campuses entirely because some of the messages could incite a fight or could be construed as being obscene. Southwest Airlines recently asked a passenger to either change his t-shirt or turn it inside out because the graphic on the shirt read “Master Baiter.”
Free speech can also be seen in bumper stickers on cars proclaiming support for a particular candidate, letting people know that their child is an honor student at a particular school, or encouraging people to “Ask Me About My Grandchild.” In 1989, Arkansas banned bumper stickers that contained language that could be interpreted as being obscene. Free speech does not extend to obscene material that is available for the general public to view.
Another form of freedom of speech is artistic expression. There is a huge granite boulder in rural Iowa called the “Freedom Rock.” Every Memorial Day, a young man, Ray (Bubba) Sorensen, II, paints several scenes on the rock as a tribute to our soldiers. Some of the things he has painted have been criticized as being too graphic, but he tries to depict the honor he feels for our soldiers.
“National Freedom of Speech Week” is an observance celebrated in the third week of October every year. This year it is the week of October 15, 21, 2007. This week will call attention to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s words to guide America through World War II and into the 21st Century. He said, “In the future days which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression – everywhere in the world ….” During this week, all Americans are encouraged to exercise their right to free speech by posting a message online, speaking at a rally, or writing a letter to the editor of their local newspaper. It doesn’t matter what one says, just as long as one says it.
In conclusion, we should all thank our forefathers for the First Amendment. It would be horrible to live in a country where we could not express our thoughts, where we would be arrested for saying we did not like a particular color on the flag, or did not like the hairstyle of the President of the country. Imagine the government telling the newscasters what to say. Imagine how dull the day would be if there were no protesters with signs that proclaim, “The end of the world is near!”
Works Cited
“5-68-205. Public display of obscenity.” Arkansas Code. 07 October 2007.
“Bill of Rights.” Constitution for the United States of America. 01 October 2007.
Freedom Rock in Rural Iowa. 03 June 2007. 01 October 2007.
“Free Speech: The Language of America.” National Freedom of Speech Week 2007. 03 October 2007.
“Free Speech in America: An Overview.” Robert S. Barker. Democracy Dialogues, Freedom of Speech. 30 September 2005. 03 October 2007.
Freedom of Speech. Mills, N. Scott. 03 October 2007.
“Freedom of Speech.” Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2007. ©1997-2007. 03 October 2007.
“freedom of speech.” Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Randon House, Inc. 06 October 2007.
“freedom of speech.” Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam-Webster, Inc. 06 October 2007.
“freedom of speech.” Worldnet® 3.0. Princeton University. 06 October 2007.
“Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement.” The Seattle Times. 06 October 2007.
Quotation Details, “Quotation #331 from Michael Moncur’s (Cynical) Quotations.” Voltaire, (Attributed); originated in The Friends of Voltaire, 1906, by S. G. Tallentyre (Evelyn Beatrice Hall. 06 October 2007.
“Schenck v. United States.” Supreme Court of the United States. Cornell University Law School. 06 October 2007.
“Southwest Airlines to Apologize After Making Man Change 'Master Baiter' T-Shirt.” FOXNews.com. 05 October 2007. 07 October 2007.
“speech, freedom of.” The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001-04. 06 October 2007.
“Words of Freedom.” Democracy Dialogues, Freedom of Speech. 27 September 2005. 03 October 2007.
