Essential Question

• How does the Constitution protect citizen rights?

Citizen Rights (1)

Freedom of Speech

• Democratic government requires every person has the right to speak freely

Pure Speech

• Verbal expression of opinion before an audience that has chosen to listen

Symbolic Speech

• Using actions and symbols to express opinions

Texas v. Johnson (1989)

• Flag-burning is protected as symbolic speech

Limiting Speech

• Right of free speech must be balanced against the need to protect society

Seditious Speech

• Any speech urging resistance to lawful authority or advocating the overthrow of the government

Court Guidelines

• Three constitutional tests to establish limits on speech:

a. The clear and present danger rule

b. The bad tendency doctrine

c. The preferred position doctrine

Clear and Present Danger

• When the speech in question clearly presents an immediate danger

Schenck v. United States (1919)

• Schenck urged draftees to obstruct the war effort in WWI

• During wartime this speech threatened the well-being of the nation

The Bad Tendency Doctrine

• Gitlow v. New York (1925)

• Speech restricted if it had a tendency to lead to illegal action

Preferred Position Doctrine

• First Amendment freedoms hold a preferred position over competing interests

• Government must show limiting them is absolutely necessary

Brandenberg v. Ohio

• KKK leader arrested for refusing to end a rally and cross burning

• Court ruled in his favor as there was no evidence his speech intended to create immediate acts of violence

Defamatory Speech

• 1st Amendment does not protect false speech that damages a person’s name

• Slander – spoken• Libel - written

“Fighting Words”

• Words so insulting they provoke immediate violence

• Do not constitute free speech

Freedom of the Press

• At times the right of the press to gather and publish information conflicts with other rights

Prior Restraint

• Censoring of the press by government

• Can only occur in cases related to national security

Sheppard v. Maxwell (1966)

• Overturned conviction of murderer because of pre-trial press coverage

Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union (1997)

• Internet speech deserves the same First Amendment protection as print media

Freedom of Assembly

• Right of the people to peaceably assemble and petition the government

DeJonge v. Oregon (1937)

• DeJonge was convicted of holding a Communist Party meeting

• Conviction overturned as peaceful assembly for discussion

Public Assembly

• Freedom includes right to parade and demonstrate in public

Cox v. New Hampshire (1941)

• A city can require a parade permit in order to march because of safety to citizens

Grayned v. City of Rockford

• Upheld a ban on demonstrations near schools that were intended to disrupt classes

The Skokie Case (1977)

• The American Nazi Party planned to hold a rally in a Jewish suburb of Chicago

• Court allowed the march

Feiner v. New York (1950)

• Police arrested a man whose public speaking incited a violent crowd response

• Court upheld his arrest as an act to keep the peace