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Introduction to First Amendment Law

Introduction to First Amendment Law . The First Amendment.

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Introduction to First Amendment Law

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  1. Introduction to First Amendment Law

  2. The First 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.”

  3. What else it means • Through the 14th Amendment, state and local governments must adhere to the 1st Amendment as well • “Unprotected” speech: • “fighting words” • Threats • Obscenities • Libel/slander • Perjury • Hate speech • Protected: “political speech” • No viewpoint discrimination

  4. Question 1: Falsely shouting “Fire!” in a crowded theater

  5. Can the Government Punish? • Classic example of unprotected speech • Sort of like perjury • Schenck v U.S. • “The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely yelling ‘fire’ in a theater and causing a panic.” 249 U.S. 47 (1919)

  6. Question 2: Wearing a shirt with an expletive

  7. Can the Government Punish? • A man was arrested in California during the Vietnam war for a similar shirt • Cohen v. California • “Absent a more particularized and compelling reason for its actions, the State may not, consistently with the First and Fourteenth Amendments, make the simple public display here involved of this four-letter expletive a criminal offense.” 402 U.S. 15 (1971)

  8. Question 3: Burning the American flag

  9. Can the Government Punish? • Can the government make flag burning illegal? • On multiple occasions, the Supreme Court has held that burning is protected speech • U.S. v. Eichman (1990), Texas v. Johnson (1989) • Government cannot ban an idea just because it is disagreeable

  10. Question 4: Burning a cross

  11. Can the Government Punish? • Crosses burned in the yard of an African American family by white supremicists • Virginia v. Black • Supreme Court cannot ban all cross burning except when the motive is to intimidate (considered unprotected: a threat)

  12. Question 5: Punishing on-campus speech

  13. First Amendment Law and Students • Courts view schools as a setting “with special government interests” • Can regulate speech more closely • Student suspended for assembly speech with “an elaborate, graphic, and explicit sexual metaphor.” Bethel School Dist. V. Fraser • http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=13701 • Students can protest with arm bands in school • Tinker v. Des Moines School Dist. (1969) • General Test: Schools may ban “speech or action that intrudes upon the work of the schools.”

  14. Question 6: Punishing off-campus speech

  15. Question 7: Banning hate groups from holding rallies/demonstrations

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