Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech ... Every citizen may freely speak, write and publish sentiments on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of this liberty;... |
| | Freedom of Speech is the foundation of our vigorous modern democracy: its fundamental nature is evident in the generally unequivocal Supreme Court support it has enjoyed for most of the 20th century, despite the number of challenges it faces annually. Like much of the Bill of Rights, however, the basic tolerance of opinion modern Americans assume in the contexts of art, music, political advocacy, and simple private communication was not protected for well over half of the nation's history. Freedom of Speech as we understand it today first evolved out of the dissenting opinion in Abrams v. U.S., which argued that speech could be punished only if it presented a "clear and present danger" of harm. The "clear and present danger test" became the free speech standard until 1969, when Brandenburg v. Ohio raised that standard to suppress speech only if it is "intended and likely to produce imminent lawless action." This broad protection allows for a diverse exchange of ideas, but also holds the possibility that all speech be threatened, if any speech is threatened. |
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Tuesday, September 3, 2002 |
© Copyright 2002 Lucas Burke.
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