For my presentation, I reported on the Falwell vs. Flynt lawsuit, which was based upon the extent to which Americans have freedom of expression. An important aspect of this case was the dissimilarity of the two men involved: Jerry Falwell and Larry Flynt. Jerry Falwell was an important religious leader of the time. He was a radio evangelist, leader of a religious group called the moral majority, and voted 2nd most influential person in America (the first being the president). Falwell represented a pure America, a decent society in which its members were committed to moral standards. Larry Flynt was his complete opposite. Flynt was editor of the infamous Hustler…
Freedom of speech is the right to express your ideas and opinions when you’re speaking. Equality 7-2521 was a very intelligent man. He was the smartest in his class, also known as Home of Students. Home of Students is a boarding school where he lives. He was full of ideas which he wasn’t allowed to express. Everybody had to be the same; nobody…
Everyone has a freedom of speech, but others should not try to stop others from exercising their rights. A person can’t say the other is wrong or fight a person to join their side or that their side is right. A person can try to use facts and try to educate a person of their viewpoint. People are not entitled to have their viewpoints be received by people. A person does not have to agree with you on your viewpoint. You can’t change a viewpoint of another. People have their own ways of…
In “Protecting Freedom of Expression on the Campus”, the author, Derek Bok shows how expressing yourself falls under the First Amendment, whether it is on a private college campus or public college campus. He further explains that just because it is protected by law does not mean that it is “right, proper, or civil. Bok goes on to show how censoring freedom of speech would cause people to “test the limits” to gain more attention than is needed and if dealt with in the proper manner, behaviors such as displaying a Confederate flag or a swastika in rebuttal of the flag can be avoided. Freedom of expression is a right and should not…
This article talked about how the students of UC Berkeley were protesting against a speech being given at their school, and how the sponsors of this group were forced to pay $15,000 in security fees. Then on top of that fee the school paid an additional $600,000 to create cemented barriers and have armed forces on campus during the meeting. Personally I feel these precautions were unnecessary however due to the way students were reacting it had to be done. Another subject brought up in the article was the fact that 44 percent of students said that the First Amendment does not protect "hate speech", 51 percent said that they would be in favor of students speaking out against a speaker "known for making offensive and hurtful statements" and 19 percent of students said the use of violence against controversial speakers is acceptable. This information frustrates me because freedom of speech is black and white, personal opinions shouldn’t interfere with our rights.…
Some universities, such as Texas Tech, have taken down their designated free-speech zones. Public places that still have free-speech zones have many rules on them. Just to be able to use one of the “zones”, a person has to go through many levels of clearance and review. An argument to that is that free speech zones give people the rights that they want if they try hard enough. If a person really wants to speak their mind in a public place, they should not mind going through the supplements. Free speech zones are futile because they are so limiting that they are not “free” zones…
As Roger Rosenblatt endured in countries of constrained inhabitants, “the secret publication of books, the pirated music, the tricky subversive lines of poetry read at vast gatherings of tens of thousands. And the below the surface comedy” (503) will continuously arise no matter the discouragement present. In a country founded on its freedoms, the retraction of any of those privileges will be met with extreme adversity. Moreover, “since free is the way people's minds were made to be” (Rosenblatt 502) the restriction of verbal expression will only cause riots and outrage. Currently, various universities and colleges have faced the backlash of unjust speech limitations on their campuses. One student attending a college in Arizona prepares to sue the school for, “her school’s so-called “speech zone,” arguing the policy “severely limited” her right to free speech and due process” (Harkness). Reactions to a decrease in the liberty to speak freely induces immediate retaliation and hardship, in addition, to being entirely unnecessary. To keep the peace and stability, the United States must keep the freedom of speech as it was intended to be used, freely.…
continues to explain that Texas Tech bans students to a freedom of speech zone which is only a gazebo that can hold no more than forty people. If a student would like to engage in any type of freedom of speech activities outside of this zone, then they must have approval six days before the activity (504). The fact that students are not permitted to speak their mind freely outside of the gazebo without permission is saddening. Higher authorities are limiting the thoughts of not only students, but also all people because of the fear that they will insult someone or they will speak out against their rules. Freedom of speech should not be limited to a certain zone with only a certain amount of students to hear it because the founding fathers did not intend for it be like this. They came from a country where they were not permitted to have their own opinion; therefore, they wanted the United States to allow freedom of speech whenever and wherever. Limiting speech is limiting diversity, knowledge, and opinion; moreover, censorship is not allowing the country to grow. Rampell continues to state “Crippling the delivery of unpopular views is a terrible lesson to send to impressionable minds and future leaders at Wesleyan and…
Wu, T. (2010). The Future of Free Speech. Chronicle of Higher Education, 57 (13), B4-B5.…
There are instances when freedom of speech is impaired, even though it is a constitutional right given to all Americans. This fundamental freedom is abridged when someone is bound by ludicrous Non-Disclosure Agreements, or NDA’s, on college campuses by enforcement, and in some forms by social media. According to Joanna Vamvaka, a speech writer, states, “In that sense, fundamental right to free speech serves as limitation to its own limitation” (Vamvaka 1).…
Many people can protest as much as they want but it must not disturb the state of calm in the state. Limits to rights defuses any potential harm that can happen although there is criticism indeed. There are many types of speeches each can be allowed with limited aspects in a school the rules are simple behave and do not cause a disturbance. In the Tinker V. Des Moines cases a group of kids wore the armbands that was controversial to some member of the faculty. The students accused the school of infringing their 1st Amendment rights. The students were simply stating their own opinion for themselves although it may have disrupted student it did not stop the educational process. The rights of students is very limited punishments are announced…
In 1959 a documentary was produced entitled The Hate that Hate Produced which took a look at the Islamic nation and their feelings towards white people. The program was televised and broadcasted over New York television stations for the entire city to see. Malcolm X wanted to go ahead with the broadcasting of the program but Elijah Muhammad was a bit more reluctant. He felt that this would bring unwarranted attention toward the nation Islam and he felt it would be counterproductive to their cause. Malcolm however felt that this would be a great way to expose the nation of Islam and invite new members who felt they did not want to join the ongoing civil rights movement. Muhammad reluctantly agreed to the broadcast, but this would be the begging of the…
For Instance, if the public was not able to possess freedom of speech than people would be force to be fastidious about the things they say. Politics, Speech in the classroom, Speech related to college and university governance, or Research related speech are all prime examples of why higher education is critical to the first amendment and freedom of speech. Even faculty members see continuing aggressive challenges to what they are allowed to say publicly or through an email privately. If you ask me, faculty members, academic professionals, or anyone should have a right to freely express themselves both in the classroom and externally because we all play an important role in providing necessary criticism, insight and invention to society. Ineffective or bad communication is equivalent to not exhibiting your opinions.…
Freedom of speech is one that can change a country and has the ability to influence a large audience. Newspapers are very powerful in this way. A newspaper has the power to; scare, relax give hope, inspire and much more. They have the power to change.…
The idea of ‘freedom from fear” is still the same, the perspectives from both presidents’ show similar beliefs in the security and the future of the country. Both presidents believe in the well-being of the country and everyone who is in it and they both see everyone as one. Their speeches show goals and hope that they have to make sure everyone feels safe. They want the country to live fear free during the times of these speeches. Though they may have similar beliefs how they choose to address their beliefs seem to differ.…