chapter 19: civil liberties: first amendment freedoms section 3

Chapter 19: Civil Liberties: First Amendment Freedoms

Section 3

Chapter 19: Civil Liberties: First Amendment Freedoms

Section 3

Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Slide Chapter 19, Section 3

ObjectivesObjectives

1. Explain the importance of the two basic purposes served by the guarantees of free expression.

2. Summarize how the Supreme Court has limited seditious speech and obscenity.

3. Examine the issues of prior restraint and press confidentiality, and describe the limits the Court has placed on the media.

4. Define symbolic and commercial speech; describe the limits of their exercise.


Key TermsKey Terms

• libel: the false and malicious use of printed words

• slander: the false and malicious use of spoken words

• sedition: the crime of attempting to overthrow the government by force or disrupt it by violent acts

• seditious speech: advocating sedition


Key Terms, cont.Key Terms, cont.

• prior restraint: banning an idea before it is expressed

• injunction: a court order • shield laws: laws protecting lawyers from

giving up confidential sources• symbolic speech: expressing an idea by

one’s conduct• picketing: patrolling a workplace while on

strike


IntroductionIntroduction

• What are the limits on the guarantees of free speech and free press?

– No person has the right to libel or slander another person.

– It is illegal to encourage others to commit a crime.

– Laws can ban the use of obscene words, printing or distributing obscene materials, and false advertising.


Free Expression Free Expression

• The 1st amendment guarantees each person the right of free expression by speech, writing, and all other means of communication.– The 14th Amendment extends this federal right to

citizens of every state.

• Everyone has the right to hear what others have to say on public issues.– Only an informed populace can make good decisions

about public policy.


Seditious SpeechSeditious Speech

• Congress passed laws banning seditious speech.– The Alien and Sedition Acts

of 1798• punished government

critics.– The Espionage Act of 1917

• crime to say, write, or publish disloyal remarks about government.

– The Smith Act of 1940• crime to urge or plan

violent overthrow of American government.


What Counts as Sedition?What Counts as Sedition?

• Schenck v. United States (1917)Supreme Court established “clear and present danger rule.”– Conviction upheld– Banned words strong risk that encourage

criminal activity.

• Yates v. United States, the Court ruled that it is not illegal to urge someone to believe something but it is illegal to urge them to do something.


ObscenityObscenity

• Illegal under federal and state law to distribute obscene material.

• The Supreme Court created a three-part test• Material is obscene if it:

– Incites lust according to local community standards

– Describes sexual conduct banned in anti-obscenity law

– Lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value


Prior RestraintPrior Restraint

• Government censorship is usually illegal.– Near v. Minnesota (1931)

– New York Times v. U.S(1971)

• Censorship may be allowed– if it endangers national security.

– applied to censor material distributed in military bases and federal prisons

– about the CIA (SneppvUS1980)


Prior Restraint, cont.Prior Restraint, cont.

• Checkpoint: How has the Supreme Court ruled on student speech?

– Public schools have broad power to censor “school-sponsored expressive activities,” including school newspapers and plays.

– Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988)


The Media, cont.The Media, cont.

• The movie industry– less protection than newspapers– Films can be censored.

• Radio and television receive the least amount of 1st Amendment protection.– Heavily regulated (cable TV less so)– Radio and TV stations are licensed to broadcast their

signals on publicly owned airwaves. – No guaranteed 1st Amendment right to broadcast their

material.– Fall under the commerce power of Congress.– FCC can refuse license, issue fines and prosecute


The Media, cont.The Media, cont.

• Few Supreme Court cases dealing with the Internet – laws aimed at stopping

distribution of pornography online struck down• One exception;

Children’s Internet Protection Act.

– Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union, 1997

Text

U.S. v. American Library Association 2003


Symbolic SpeechSymbolic Speech• Symbolic speech is the expression of ideas by a

person’s conduct and is often meant as an act of dissent.

– Peaceful picketing is protected speech• Thornhill v. Alabama 1940

– Burning the American flag or a cross as a political protest is also protected speech according to the Supreme Court. (Texas v. Johnson 1989)

– Tinker v. Des Moines School District (1969) • students may wear black armbands in

protest of Vietnam War.


Symbolic Speech, cont.Symbolic Speech, cont.

• Checkpoint: When are acts of dissent by speech punished?

– If the object of the protest is within the constitutional powers of the government

– If whatever restriction is placed on expression is no greater than necessary

– If the government’s real intent is not to prevent dissent


Commercial SpeechCommercial Speech

• Commercial speech most often refers to advertising.

• The Supreme Court usually strikes down arbitrary bans on advertising.

• The government can ban false and misleading advertisements or the advertising of illegal goods and services.

• Congress has also banned tobacco ads on radio and television.


ReviewReview

• Now that you have learned about the limits on the guarantees of free speech and free press, go back and answer the Chapter Essential Question.– How can the judiciary balance individual

rights with the common good?

chapter 19: civil liberties: first amendment freedoms section 3

Documents

slide chapter

guarantees of free speech

supreme court

commercial speech

right of free expression

guarantees of free expression

free press

violent actsseditious