The Skokie Incident: Holocaust Survivors

Skokie The Skokie Incident started in the village of Skokie when the National Socialist Party of America wanted to march in Skokie. Skokie is a village with a many residents being Holocaust survivors and a larger number being Jewish. Clearly the holocaust Survivors and fellow citizens of the city were outraged and cried against it. The Nazis with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union were able to fight for their freedom of speech. Some issues brought up with this incident were the First Amendment right to freedom of speech and assembly and on the other hand the right to the citizens if Skokie to live without intimidation. The court ultimately sided with the Nazis and The First Amendment. The two sides consist of the ACLU the Nazis
against the Skokie government its citizens and the Anti Defamation League. There were many views portrayed throughout the movie with groups like the Nazis, The ACLU, The Village Government, the holocaust survivors and the Anti-Defamation League.
The ACLU and the Nazis go almost hand in hand, they both believe that the Nazis should have the right to march in Skokie. This comes from the First Amendment and ones right to freedom of speech and freedom to assemble. Although they share this view the ACLU did not promote the ideas or principles of the Nazis and with there involvement in the case the ACLU lost many members and sponsors. The Holocaust survivors go in a category of their own, they did not believe the Nazis should have the right to march and claimed the right to live without intimidation. The Holocaust survivors believed that by allowing the Nazis march it would be like the beginning of the Jewish oppression in WWII when the Nazis marched through the streets. Yet this time the Holocaust survivors would fight back with violence they also had the Jewish Defense League on their side willing to fight. The Last two groups, the Anti-Defamation League and the village government, believed in the same principle to quarantine the Nazis which means refuse to give the Nazis a platform or attention they want because they just want to cause trouble. The village government kept trying to find a way to stop the Nazis they decided to argue the case of hectors veto (If you can prove that the speech will cause an imminent violent/hostile reaction, that can be silenced in the future for the safety of both sides) because they want to keep peace in the town and want to keep their supporter in
town.
In the movie there were several court cases and it began with the Cook County Circuit Court which quickly ruled that Skokie won and an injunction is set against the march and the Nazis. The Nazis appealed this to Illinois’s higher courts and they state that the march does not fall under Hecklers veto, allowing the Nazis to march in Skokie with uniform and swastika. The U.S. Supreme Court agrees with the lower court. Even though both sides submit briefs but they agree that Free Speech was more important in this issue. My personal opinion is that although I in no way believe or like the views of the Nazis (I would probably be out there with the town of Skokie protesting against the Nazis) it is written in the constitution that the people of the United States have the right of freedom of speech and to assemble peacefully. I personally would represent them in a court case but the decisions by the U.S. courts were a proper interpretation of the guarantees stated in the Constitution. The First Amendment clearly states that the citizens of the U.S. have freedom of speech therefore Nazis should have the right to say what they want. It is not far for one group of people to try to get what they want, when the other group can’t.