chapter 2 and 3 exam Flashcards
British made these to restrict the press
Seditious libel : punished citizens who criticized the government
Licensing/ Prior restraint: required printers to obtain prior approval from the government or church before printing
Bonds: money deposited by the government that would be forfeited if the government felt material should not be printed
original intent
the meaning intended by the framers of the constitution
Hecklers- veto
when a crowd’s reaction to a speech or message is allowed to control and silence that speech or message
Jury nullification
- the power of a jury in a criminal case to ignore a law and to return a verdict
- John Peter Zenger is the most famous seditious libel trial of govt censorship that used this
. Absolutist theory
govt cannot censor the press for any reason. No law means no law. Majority of Supreme Court never has adopted this
Ad hoc balancing theory
- when free speech and press rights conflict with other important rights.
- Courts must balance these freedoms
- Determined on a case by case basis
Preferred position balancing theory
- speech and press are given greater weight than other rights
- Courts use this theory more often than any other
Meiklejohnian theory
expression that relates to self-governing process must be protected by 1st amendment
Marketplace of ideas
- all info and opinions should be allowed to compete in a marketplace, with the best ideas chosen from among the many
- Currently dominates the court’s discussion of freedom of speech introduced by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes (clear and present danger)
Access Theory
- Free speech and press rights are not meaningful to citizens unless they have access to media outlets.
- Can be seen as a remedy to correct some of the flaws of the market place of ideas
- Struck down by Miami herald v. Tornillo
Self-realization/ self-fulfillment theory
- speech can be valuable to a person regardless of its effects on others
- Expressing ones identity through speech
Articles of Confederation
- precursor to the constitution
- 13 colonies in which the central or federal govt had little power
- Did not contain a guarantee of freedom of expression
William Blackstone
- Deigned freedom of the press as freedom from prior restraint.
- “ commentaries pf the law of England”
- “ laying no previous restraints upon publication “ or no prior censorship.
John Adams
- a federalist who lost his bid for re-election in 1800 in large part due to his attempts at silencing critics with the sedition act of 1798
- 2nd president
Planned parenthood of Columbia v. American Coalition
- application of the Brandenburg test
- Web postings by anti-abortion activists that branded doctors who performed abortions as “ baby butchers”
- No first amendment protection for the web postings
Gitlow v. New York
- “ The Left Wing Manifesto “
- The US Supreme Court established the incorporation doctrine meaning the free speech and free press clauses of the 1st amendment are incorporated through the 14th amendment due process clause that apply to all levels of govt
Near v. Minnesota
- publisher of the Saturday press published articles that attacked city corruption and govt officials
- The Saturday Press declared a public nuisance and had to stop from printing any further editions
- Supreme court ruled the Minnesota statue was an unconstitutional prior restraint on free press
NY Times v. US
- Supreme Court ruled NY Times could publish documents that led to US intervention in the Vietnam conflict
- Government failed to make a strong enough case for prior restraint
United States v Progressive
- a judge stopped the publication of a magazine article that specified with three key concepts necessary to construct a hydrogen weapon
- Judge claimed that publication would cause immediate injury to the nation
Smith Act
- made it a crime to conspire to advocate the violent overthrow of the govt
- to organize a group that advocated the the violent overthrow of the govt
- or to be a member of the group that advocated the violence overthrow of the govt. aimed at the communist party
A.J. Liebling
- wrote that freedom of the press belongs to the man who owns one..
- Freedom of expression had little meaning if a citizen did not have the economic means to exercise this right (access theory)
Justice Louis Brandeis
- author of an important concurring opinion in Whitney v. California
- “ clear and present danger it must be shown either that immediate serious violence was to be expected or was advocated.”
Clear and Present Danger Test
- Congress has the right to outlaw certain kinds of conduct that might be harmful to the nation.
- 15,000 pamphlets posted a threat
- Justice Holmes created
Sedition Act of 1918
- made it a crime to attempt to obstruct the recruiting service, to say print or write disloyal or profane language that was intended to scorn the federal government
- Us post office censored thousands of newspapers, books, and pamphlets
- guilty lost second class mailing privileges or found their mail never delivered
Espionage Act
signed by Woodrow Wilson made it a crime to convey a false report with the intent to interfere with the war effort, cause disloyalty or refusal of duty, and to obstruct enlistment
