I like the cartoon above. It is one of the best examples of the concept of freedom of speech that I have seen in cartoon form. Freedom of speech really does not mean that the people who hear you speak have to agree with you or even to respect you or even to refrain from criticizing you. Freedom of speech does mean that other people have to respect your right to speak, and allow you the room to do so. We make a mistake when we try to equate freedom of speech with personal respect for another. Let me repeat, freedom of speech is simply the right for you to speak and not be silenced.
This freedom is not a unilateral freedom. Reasonable exceptions to freedom of speech have been carved out and widely upheld by the courts. The most famous example is that you do not have the right to shout “fire” in a crowded theater if there is no fire. But, for instance, we have also limited certain types of talk in front of minors in various venues, though not all venues, or it would be easy to limit freedom of speech by simply having minors present in the crowd. You do not have the unilateral right to spill state secrets, although most courts will refuse prior censorship. You talk; you leak; you take a chance on going to jail. But maybe not, because courts have ruled that legitimate whistle blowers have the freedom of speech right to even spill state secrets. This is all to say that freedom of speech is not an unlimited right and there are grey areas in it.
But, in this country there must be extremely good reasons in order for freedom of speech to be limited, and preserving the public order is not sufficient. Thus when the neo-Nazis wanted to march through Skokie, IL in 1977, they won their case in the Supreme Court (the lower state courts split in their decisions). It was ruled that freedom of assembly gave them the right to march. They also won a secondary ruling that allowed them to wave swastika banners during the march. It was ruled that freedom of speech gave them that right. What made this ruling so shocking to many people is that Skokie, at that time, was a town with a high Jewish population, many of whom had lived through the Holocaust. In 1978 the neo-Nazis held three marches in Illinois.
The point is that freedom of assembly and freedom of speech are such fundamental rights that even views that the majority believe to be obnoxious and repellent may not be completely silenced. Thus both neo-Nazis on the extreme right, and the North American Man-Boy Love Association on some sick extreme, have the right to try to convince you of their views, though they do not have the right to carry their views out. In passing, NAMBLA’s rejection by virtually everyone has pretty much wiped out the organization. For all intents and purposes it no longer really exists, but notice that it was not shut down by police action or by regulatory law but by a rejection of their advocated positions. And, remember what the cartoon points out. I may support their freedom of speech, but I also have the freedom of speech to say that they are sickos whom I do not respect. Ain’t freedom of speech wonderful?
Forty-six years ago yesterday, Martin Luther King was one of the speakers at a massive civil rights assembly. It was then that he gave his famous, “I Have A Dream” speech. It was freedom of assembly and freedom of speech that gave the organizers the right to gather, to invite participants, and to pressure the USA Congress for a change in the laws. Yesterday, Glenn Beck held his “Restoring Honor” rally. It is freedom of assembly and freedom of speech that gave him the right to gather, to invite participants, and to encourage voters to “take back America.” Those two rallies exemplify once again our Constitutional rights to freedom of assembly and freedom of speech. It is what our Founding Fathers wanted for this country.
This does not mean that you have to agree with either man. In fact, you may virulently disagree with both men, disagree with one of them, or fully agree with both of them. But, you see, that is your freedom of speech at work, just like my freedom of speech lets me write this blog post. And, that’s our Constitution.
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