The Importance Of Freedom Of Speech Rights In Universities

In 1988, two years after the Bethel School District v Fraser case, another public school petitioned the United States Supreme Court regarding an action of censorship decided by the school against the school student’s journal. Known as Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier , this case will be analyzed by the US Supreme Court justices, mostly, in reference to the Bethel School District v Fraser case. The precedent of Bethel School District v Fraser case’s ruling has heavily weighted on Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier case in a sense that, once again, the Court has decided to overturn a decision of a Court of Appeals, and pronounced a verdict in favor of the School District. In fine, the United States Supreme Court will rule that a school has a censorship power, which, it could fully and reasonably exercise against the freedom

As a matter in fact, colleges have become a big topic when it comes to free speech. In the news you hear about speakers who were scheduled and set up to speak at a college, but students disrupt or riot. Howard Gillman and Erwin Chemerinsky, in the

People have the tendency to take the First Amendment for granted, but some tend to use it to their favor. Stanley Fish presents his main argument about how people misuse this amendment for all their conflicts involving from racial issues to current political affairs in his article, Free-Speech Follies. His article involves those who misinterpret the First Amendment as their own works or constantly use it as an excuse to express their attitudes and desires about a certain subject matter. He expresses his personal opinions against those who consistently use the First Amendment as a weapon to defend themselves from harm of criticism.

This paper will discuss how censorship denies citizens of the United States our full rights as delineated in the First Amendment. It will outline how and why the first amendment was created and included in the Constitution of the United States of America. This paper will also define censorship, discuss a select few legal cases surrounding freedom of speech and censorship as well as provide national and local examples of censorship.

In 1787 our founding fathers assembled the constitution of the United States of America. Of this which contains the most important document to the American citizen, the Bill of rights. The first Amendment states: “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” These freedoms granted by the Bill of Rights are often known as freedom of expression. These rights are most important to a truly free society. The first amendment provides us with new ideas and dismisses the fear of punishment

The first amendment guarantees five basic freedoms to the American citizens. These freedoms are of speech, press, petition, assembly and religion. As all the amendments, the first amendment is intended for use in situations with the government. The first amendment was written by James Madison and was sent to the states to be ratified on September 25, 1789 along with the twelve proposals for the bill of rights.. Then it was officially adopted on December 15, 1791.

This is my favorite Amendment because it allows us as citizens of the U.S. to have our own individual freedoms. The part that mentions freedom of religion is especially important because it separates church from state and allows each citizen the right to choose which religion they want to follow. Some places in the world do not allow this and punish those who rebel against the religion of the land.

The Supreme Court has ruled that the government has the right to prohibit speech that disrupts peace or causes violence, especially in public schools. In fact, there have been multiple instances in which the Supreme Court has gotten involved in the first amendment rights of public school students.

By writing “when the ideas, values, and speech of the other side are seen not just as wrong but as willfully aggressive toward innocent victims, it is hard to imagine the kind of mutual respect, negotiation, and compromise that are needed to make politics a positive-sum game”, the authors exhibit their feelings that perceiving differing opinions as aggressive is the wrong viewpoint. Connecting the disputes at college campuses to affecting politics develops a pressing feeling that something needs to change. Many people may view the culture at universities as something that doesn’t affect them or matter, and the writers of this article hope and try to change this outlook by constantly referencing how the increased amount of coddling and protectiveness will poorly affect the future of the students as well as the

The idea of free speech on college campuses and the complications of it stem from those on campuses expressing views that don’t align with popular views. Implications for students who use the idea of free speech as a method for hateful actions and comments should be reprimanded, but the question remains as to whether schools should enforce tougher limitations. The freedom of speech on college campus expands to the freedoms of religion, assembly, press, and protest as well. Freedom of expression allows students to show their own political, social, and cultural views. Removing freedoms of speech and expression have consequences deeper than surface issues. Free speech and hate speech can be classified as different topics and when arguing for one, we can also criticize the other. Free expression and free speech on campuses are crucial for sparking important conversations about equality and social justice, and the suspension of free speech and expression may have dire consequences on college campuses.

In the “Bethel School District v. Fraser” case, Fraser believed that the school violated his first amendment “freedom of speech” rights. Fraser gave a speech with some inappropriate content in it and the school gave him a three day suspension because two teachers warned him before he gave the speech. Fraser took it to court and the justices said they would shorten the suspension and let him have his right to speak at graduation because the school was taking away his freedom of speech.

further defined students’ rights in school. It could also be argued that the court’s ruling limited

It is important to let people express their views and discuss disagreements; that’s what democracy is. Being able to express your views and opinions is what makes America different from other countries. So why wouldn’t we allow these same rights on a college campus? Wendy Kaminer says in her essay Progressive Ideas Have Killed Free Speech on Campus, “It’s not just rape that some women on campus fear: It’s the discussions of rape.” She then goes on to talk about a university that canceled a discussion about rape because students felt like it made an unsafe environment. It is important to maintain an environment for victims to feel safe in but I don’t think it’s right to be silenced to the point where even talking about it for educating and information purposes is looked down upon. Morally, it’s always important to not have your speech make anyone feel uncomfortable or unsafe but especially for educational purposes it’s important to not feel like you must walk on eggshells because someone might find it offensive. Kaminer uses another example in her essay where she was “quickly branded a racist” because she used “the n-word” while teaching Huckleberry

This source highlights the absence of the first amendment in many speech related crimes, such as conspiracy and verbal harassment. The article discusses how these are not crimes that are being committed, rather, these are crimes that are only being discussed. This raises the question of whether or not the United States is overcriminilizing speech. The article argues that in order for these crimes to seriously be considered as a criminal offense, the government needs to create an objective way of qualifying what is and

In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), freedom of speech falls under the Article 19 which is the freedom of opinion and expression. It protects one’s freedom ‘to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers’ (The United Nations, 1948). Article 19(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) adds that the freedom of expression could be ‘either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice’.