...Significant Legal Decisions Involving Hate Speech in America What exactly is Hate Speech? There are many different variations to this answer. According to dictionary.com, it is “speech that attacks a person or group on the basis of race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation” (“hate speech”). Anthony Lewis’ description of hate speech focuses more on the people it aims at: “Hate speech, it is called: virulent attack on Jews, blacks, Muslims, homosexuals, or members of any other group. It is pure hatred, not based on any wrong done by an individual” (157) Throughout history, many cases involving hate speech have been brought to court; each of them differ in their own ways and each brought a significant change to our Constitution. Our country prides itself in having freedom for all, and that includes freedom of speech. But when does freedom of speech cross the line? Many court decisions tried to come up with a solid answer, but there may not ever be a successful way to categorize hate speech. All of the cases covered here played a large part in transforming what the First Amendment covers. America started to recognize the significance of hate speech beginning in 1940, and policies began to form to protect offensive speech. At this point in history, hate speech was better known as “racial and religious propaganda” (Walker 62). The Holocaust was a major turning point for America, because we realized the destruction that it caused, and the government wanted to make sure nothing...
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...Mr. Reynolds "Hate speech should be protected in the First Amendment" The most compelling reason for hate speech being protected refers to our history of discrimination and prejudice ultimately, for the purpose of trying to repair our troubled racial society that we need hate speech legislation. The government has the right to limit free speech in cases of overly racist or sexist language because our failure to address such abuses would effectively suggest that our society condones such ignorant and hateful views. Hate speech should be protected in the first amendment because the rights of the American people are the foundation of the success of our democracy. The Constitution protects all of the citizens and guarantees “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” to all men and women under the law. A review of the First amendment explains that hate speech causes injury but only when it’s determined to be fighting words, libel, slander, or obscenity. Logically misinterpreting the law in the judicial system can cause the rights of the people to be jeopardized. The current interpretation of the 1st Amendment constitutes protected and unprotected speech and must be re-valuated to better protect the people form injurious speech. Injustice happens when constitutionally protected speech harms a person but certain speech has fallen outside the scope of judicial protection. The Supreme Court’s opinion on first amendment protection is with regards to hate speech as being “fighting...
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...Freedom of Speech, Hate Speech, & Talk Radio Brice Hinchman Freedom of Speech, Hate Speech, & Talk Radio What is Freedom of speech? Well, the definition for freedom of speech is the ability to speak freely without being subject to censorship or without fear of retaliation from a governing body. There are at least two documents, the US Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that acknowledge that free speech is an unalienable right and protect it for all. There is another form of speech that may or may not be protected, depending on the circumstances, under the same documents and that is hate speech. Some of the limitations that are put in place by Government, employers, and educational facilities are a violation of what freedom of speech is really about, being able to freely speak your mind, but are necessary to protect the rights and liberties of other individuals. The freedom of speech is a very powerful right that is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Our Founding Fathers set the stage when they wrote the Declaration of Independence by stating that “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” (Choices, 81). One of these liberties and unalienable rights was the Freedom of speech. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which was ratified...
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...Term Paper on Hate Speech on College Campuses Introduction As colleges struggle to handle the various differences their students and faculty embody, the problem of “hate speech” has become a focal point of educational erudition and policy-making. In the most deliberate and alarming cases, hate speech is projected to degrade or disgrace those at whom it is directed, usually colored people, gays, lesbians, the physically or mentally challenged, and women, regardless of their sexual orientation, race, religion or ability. Less disturbing examples include insensitive or careless comments, jokes, and other expressions that are painful to those to whom they are directed, regardless of the intent of the person by whom they are spoken or written. The main focus of this essay is to discuss the current dominant structure within which the matter of hate speech is being debated. This structure draws heavily on the discussion of the Fourteenth and the First Amendments, which in my opinion are not adequate to the issue of hate speech. There is a pressing need for extra-legal standards for communicative interaction to handle this sensitive issue. Main Body In our society various laws have been invoked to regulate an increasingly extensive range of social communications. The very language with which we percept and talk about our needs, desires and disagreements is often highly legalistic (Glendon 1991). When reacting to someone else’s hurting experience, one may lament that there should...
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...The Freedom of Speech “Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech…” Why should the 1st amendment be changed now? Should groups like the Neo-Nazis be stripped of their constitutional rights? A huge controversy has arisen on whether groups like the Neo-Nazi should have the right to protest and have full freedom of speech. Despite this heated debate, Neo-Nazis should have the right to speak their opinion because of the freedom speech guaranteed in the constitution, the right to purchase a protest permit, and lastly to further prevent rebellion. Neo-Nazis as well as any other group or American citizen have the first amendment right. The first amendment states, “Congress...
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...Term Paper on Hate Speech on College Campuses Introduction As colleges struggle to handle the various differences their students and faculty embody, the problem of “hate speech” has become a focal point of educational erudition and policy-making. In the most deliberate and alarming cases, hate speech is projected to degrade or disgrace those at whom it is directed, usually colored people, gays, lesbians, the physically or mentally challenged, and women, regardless of their sexual orientation, race, religion or ability. Less disturbing examples include insensitive or careless comments, jokes, and other expressions that are painful to those to whom they are directed, regardless of the intent of the person by whom they are spoken or written. The main focus of this essay is to discuss the current dominant structure within which the matter of hate speech is being debated. This structure draws heavily on the discussion of the Fourteenth and the First Amendments, which in my opinion are not adequate to the issue of hate speech. There is a pressing need for extra-legal standards for communicative interaction to handle this sensitive issue. Main Body In our society various laws have been invoked to regulate an increasingly extensive range of social communications. The very language with which we talk about our needs, desires and disagreements is often highly legalistic (Glendon 1991). When reacting to someone else’s hurting experience, one may lament that there should be a law against...
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...Words Have you ever witnessed or been a victim of hate speech because of their or your race, religion or even your sexuality before? In today’s society, it’s been known that all American citizens have the right to speak due to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. The First Amendment being any law respecting all that someone has to say also known as freedom of speech. ”To engage in a debate about the First Amendment and racist speech without a full understanding of the nature and extent of that harm is to risk making the First Amendment an instrument of domination rather than a vehicle of liberation” (Lawrence Pg. 345). Hate speech is usually misunderstood because people make careless statements about one another and doesn’t notice or take the time to acknowledge that their form of freedom of speech inflicted damage to the victim. Then again, every person has their own definition of hate speech. Often people say that any negative speech towards a group is considered a form of hate speech; however, church religious groups are against the whole “gay marriage” and just homosexuality in general but they’re still allowed to speak out and protest against America. People are believed that the use of hate speech is to be a violation to the First Amendment but other people think otherwise and is believed that they have the right to say and express whatever they have to say and it’s protected; furthermore, hate speech also causes fear to a person which results in physical...
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...to find any aspect of this great document that everyone agrees on. There are numerous amendments that are constantly debated upon whether or not they are still necessary in today’s day and age. Jefferson’s ideas of the Constitution are still thought of today and debated upon as well. The variaty of opinions on the constitution is something that I believe will never end. In the first amendment, we, as United States citizens, are given the freedom of religion, press, assembly, petition, and speech. The freedom of speech simply means that people are able to speak freely. In an article by the Washington Post, the idea of a hate speech exception does not exist. Hateful...
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...The Bill of Rights presents a series of Amendments that grants people a basic set of rights. The arguably most important right that everyone is granted is the First Amendment. This amendment defines the basis of a democracy and the ability of the people to communicate freely with others without fear of government influence. Throughout the movie, it attempted to describe the conflict between the Media and “McCarthyism” and the attack on the First Amendment. I, for one, agree with Murrow and the Media on the preservation and defense of the First Amendment, even in an era of dictatorships or spies, the right to speech and press should always be respected with some exceptions. This paper will further explain the reasoning and restrictions on this topic. In a Libertarian Society, the people should be given the right to express their views, opinions, and ideas...
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...Hate speech is nothing new to American universities. It is defined as language that slanders a particular group based on race, color, gender, nationality, as well as other characteristics. Though colleges try to combat hate speech with speech codes, these codes are never upheld in court, and as a result the victims are left to suffer. Sadly, most victims are minorities who have been historically oppressed, such as African Americans and women. In order to help the minorities targeted by hate speech on college campuses, the sufferers must be empowered to speak out through the creation of a national organization and eventually the Supreme Court must rule that the freedom of speech does not include hate speech. An increase of hate speech on college...
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...Aside from this, they argue that policing speech ultimately ruins the purpose of college, as it prevents students from being exposed from diverse thoughts, ideas, and opinions. Backing or Evidence: In the beginning, they mention how students, specifically foreign students, are being offended by simple questions, such as, “where are you from?”. In my opinion, this is quite ridiculous to overreact over a simple question because it is merely a question. However, the reaction itself is quite subjective and is dependent on the context of the situation. Aside from this, the article mentions how being exposed to opposing thoughts, ideas, and opinions prepares an individual for the “Real World”. I agree with this statement because people should never expect a world free from hate....
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...many other countries have laws against hate speech and that such laws have sometime been passed in the United States, although not nationally. I think this is because, as mentioned by Waldron, many countries consider hate laws in Europe and in other countries in which manifestations of hate are prohibited rather than tolerated in the name of free speech. I also think this because other countries in which have these hate laws, their constitutions acknowledge that basic rights, including freedom of expression, are legitimately subject to restriction. I think it isn’t consistent because many states vary in the extent to which they allow their national legislation be guided by international human-rights laws. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education reviews the narrow definitions of exceptions for the free-speech clause of the U.S Constitution, noting that universities frequently go beyond these exceptions in their speech codes. Those narrow exceptions include: speech that incites reasonable people to immediate violence, so-called “fighting words”, harassment, true threats and intimidation, obscenity, and defamation. I think that universities go beyond these exceptions in their speech codes because of the recent events that have happened. For example, I think the Virginia Tech massacre made a lot of universities scared that something like that could happen at their university, so they started to go beyond exceptions of the free-speech clause to make sure that nothing like...
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...Hate Crimes Hate Crimes In today’s society crimes are being committed all around us, but hate crimes are particularly hurtful crimes and are committed against people for things that they cannot change. Martin Luther King once said that “Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.” So why is it that these crimes are still tolerated in 2012? Racism has been a major contributor to hate crimes but as the years have gone by it is not the only factor involved. Gender, sexual preferences, disabilities, and religious beliefs also play a role in this type of bias. Hate crimes are criminal offenses committed against a person property or society which is solely motivated by the offenders’ bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity. Who, Why, What, When and Where? These crimes are usually committed out of fear, ignorance, prejudice, or just a general lack of understanding with the highest percentage (62.3%) being committed by our white society. The FBI Hate Crimes Statistic lists 6,624 documented cases for 2010 alone. Racial hate crimes contributed 47.3%, followed by religious hate crimes at 20%, sexual orientation at 19.3%, ethnic crimes at 12.8%, and crimes against people with disabilities at .6%. 32% of these crimes are committed on the victims own property, 28% across various locations, 19% on public roads, highways, and alleys, and the remaining 11% at our Public Schools and Colleges. Some things that are done during...
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...Is there a remedy to this issue? The first amendment gives everyone in America the freedom of speech. A big controversy today is whether or not the amendment should be altered. There are many different problems in this predicament that factor into different sides. I believe that even though there are downfalls to this amendment it should not be changed. Terrorists should not be given the same rights as anybody in America should be given, but I do believe that is where I would have to draw the line. I don’t believe that there would be a way to decipher which groups were unworthy of freedom of speech or not. Who would be the judge of whether or not the group was a hate group or not? What if someone did not like a group, or were to say that they were offended by it? Would that be a hate group too?...
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...Thesis: Unless the Rights of the first Amendment Freedom of Speech is Explained it can be used well and improperly. There are many ways it can be used and cannot. If it is wrongly used you will be prosecuted. What is Freedom of speech * A.The framers of the constitution guaranteed freedom of speech and expression to the citizens of the United States with the First Amendment, which reads, in part, "Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech B.Freedon Of Speech is the first Amendment in the bill of rights How can the right of Freedom of Speech be misused * A.Using freedom of speech to get back at someone or anything personal can be damaging, and in some cases, you may even be sued for slander or libel. In most countries there is a limit to freedom of speech, and hate speech is outside the limit. B.Freedom of speech is a right and also a privelage. C. This was written primarily for countries which have a freedom of speech. Some countries don't have a Freedom of Speech law. A. The First Amendment says that people have the right to speak freely without government interference. B. The First Amendment prohibits government from establishing a religion and protects each person's right to practice (or not practice) any faith without government interference. C. The First Amendment says that people have the right to gather in public to march, protest, demonstrate, carry signs and otherwise express their views in a nonviolent way. It also means people can...
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