A gentle wind snaked its way through a closely-packed crowd of high school students waiting to graduate in a small suburb of Alabama. Perhaps it was the extreme temperatures and the piercing sun that brought about looks of discomfort on the students’ faces…or perhaps it was the exercise of what the class president believed was freedom of speech.
As he stood at the podium, with the sun at his back, every single syllable, word, and sentence was carefully crafted into a masterful speech of memories, recognitions, and farewells. However, he viewed the opportunity as one in which he had about ten minutes to say whatever the hell he wanted.
His intentions did not become clear until the closing remarks of his speech. With the audience in the palm of his hand from the beginning of the speech, he moved to concluding his speech in a rather unconventional manner: by unveiling a Confederate flag and asking for the remembrance of the Confederates who had perished in the Battle of Gettysburg almost 150 years ago to the day.
The founding fathers of the United States had key ideas in mind when they ratified the Bill of Rights in 1791. Fresh out of the Revolutionary War with Britain, Americans wanted a guarantee of their rights—an official form of documentation to not only limit the federal government’s power but to guarantee privileges to the common man.
Under the third amendment, the founding fathers said, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” (Constitution Society).
The Bill of Rights offers no specific definition of free speech and only states that the government cannot deny free speech to its citizens. Many individuals justify all forms of expression as being protected by freedom of speech, and thus the main misconception about free speech is that it is absolute and above all other laws.
Freedom of speech, contrary to popular belief, is not the right to say or express anything you want; rather, freedom of speech gives people the right to voice their opinion but not necessarily the right to be heard. In reality, there are limits to free speech according to the laws of the United States.
As I searched the internet, I came across a way to discuss the philosophy of freedom of speech in an open forum on Yahoo. Based on my findings from this forum and my own opinions, I put together a definition of freedom of speech.
Freedom of speech is the legal right to say or express something without government censorship and without violating the rights of others according to the laws of the United States that protect the basic rights and welfare of a society.
Any exercise of freedom of speech that violates a United States law is not protected under the United States Constitution. Generally, defamation, incitement to riot, and hate speech laws place boundaries on freedom of speech in the United States.
Although the founding fathers did not specifically define freedom of speech, they did lay the foundation, via the Bill of Rights, for laws that effectively demonstrate the limits to freedom of speech. Most laws and court cases relating to freedom of speech came about during the 1950s and 1960s, especially during the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.
One human rights law relating to limits on freedom of speech is Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This act says employers can be prosecuted for allowing “hate speech” by their employees (First Amendment Center).
Many people believe that symbols such as Confederate flags should not be protected by freedom of speech because they are “offensive”; but, how do you really define “offensive”? Honestly, anyone can be offended by anything because offensive expression is purely opinion-based.
Every single word that I type in this essay may in fact offend someone. The right to display symbols that seem offensive is both protected by freedom of speech and limited by laws of the United States depending on the circumstance. When displaying such symbols, individuals need to be mindful of specific laws that may apply to their situation.
For example, while the Confederate flag represents both heritage and hatred, an individual has every right to tattoo the Confederate flag on their body. However, aside from personal freedom of speech, there are state laws that say it is illegal to associate the Confederate flag with public buildings in the United States.
Consequently, individuals need to take heed to those laws. Depending on the location, laws have been passed in relation to the display of the Confederate flag. In a Tennessee High School, school administrators banned the display of the Confederate flag in school as a result of racial tensions.
The case of Barr v. Lafon upheld the ban, stating that the flag had been the source of many disruptions in school, and that school officials were justified in its banning (United States Court of Appeals).
Ultimately, freedom of speech is the legal right of expression—without government censorship—which does not violate any laws of the United States specifically meant to guarantee basic rights.
On the other hand, people that use freedom of speech to justify riots in the name of their beliefs are also misusing the concept of freedom of speech. Freedom of speech cannot be used to justify acts of violence or acts that put innocent people in harm’s way.
The definition of freedom of speech ultimately comes down to circumstance and expression that does not significantly violate another person’s rights according to the laws of the United States.
The class president in the opening paragraph, for example, may have offended individuals in the crowd with his display of the Confederate flag; however, following my definition of freedom of speech, he is protected under the United States Constitution.
He demonstrated his beliefs in a peaceful manner without breaking any other laws, specifically those set forth in the state of Alabama. However, if he had, for example, left the podium and started screaming insults and slander while demanding respect, then his form of expression would not be protected according to the laws of the United States.
Rather, his form of expression would be considered a violation of United States defamation, libel, and or slander laws. Also, if he had displayed the Confederate flag in a location not in accordance with the laws of the state of Alabama, then he would not be protected by freedom of speech because he would be breaking a law.
Over the course of the years since the ratification of the Bill of Rights, several cases have come before the Supreme Court regarding the freedom of speech. One such case was Feiner v. New York in 1949.
Irving Feiner was a college student who made a speech in downtown Syracuse in front of a crowd of mixed races, during which he insulted politicians and claimed that blacks should rise up and fight for equal rights. However, as people gathered, traffic was impeded, and a number of people in the crowd began threatening Feiner.
Police officers then asked Feiner to stop the speech, but he refused. He was arrested for disturbing the peace and for disorderly conduct. The Supreme Court decided that Feiner was guilty of disorderly conduct, claiming that his actions created the danger of a riot (Maxwell School: Public LEGAL).
Feiner had every right to express his feelings that blacks should have equal rights, but his poor choice of continuing the speech, knowing that the crowd was becoming hostile and violent, justified the Supreme Court’s decision.
Thus, Feiner’s manner of expression would not fall under my definition of freedom of speech because his expression grew into a situation that infringed the laws of the United States.
By spurring on a crowd of angry individuals, he was putting innocent lives at stake and thus violating a United States law which states: “Whoever travels in interstate or foreign commerce or uses any facility of interstate or foreign commerce…with intent to incite a riot…shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned not more than five years, or both” (Legal Information Institute).
However, one might argue that anyone can become offended by anything and thus grow angry at any time. That is where the distinction between what is offensive and what downright spurs violence is important. Martin Luther King Junior used passive means and had peaceful intentions during various boycotts and speeches for the black race.
He properly exercised freedom of speech because he did not violate any laws that protect the basic rights and welfare of a society. Only in extreme cases will individuals become inclined to violence during expression, although many may become offended very easily.
In extreme cases of violence, the cause of any hostility is from the misconception of the concept of freedom of speech, which gives someone the legal right to express their beliefs but does not give someone the legal right to violate laws during their expression.
Freedom of speech only extends as far as the individual; while someone’s beliefs can be expressed even if they may offend some people, you cannot use freedom of speech to justify expression which breaks laws set forth to protect basic rights and the welfare of a society.
Works Cited
“Barr v. Lafon”. 20 Aug. 2008. United States Court of Appeals. 17 Mar. 2009.
<http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/08a0305p-06 .pdf>.
Hudson, David L. Jr.. “Hate Speech and Campus Speech Codes”. 3 May, 2007. First Amendment Center. 18 Mar. 2009. < http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/speech/pubcolleg e/topic.aspx? topic=campus_speech_codes>.
Moon, Jeremy L.. “Feiner v. New York”. 27 Sept. 2007. Maxwell School: Public LEGAL. 12 Mar. 2009. <http://www2.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/scales/feiner.htm l>.
Roland, Jon. “Bill of Rights”. 3 Apr. 2002. Constitution Society. 12 Mar. 2009. <http://www.constitution.org/billofr_.htm>.
U.S. Code Collection. “§ 2101. Riots”. 3 Jan. 2007. Cornell University: Legal Information Institute. 17 Mar. 2009. <http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/usc_sec_18_0000 2101-000-.html>.