Protected Speech Flashcards
What type of speech is the most protected in the United States?
Political speech
What are the most protected speech?
Political Speech: Discussions about governance and public policy.
Social Commentary: Critiques of social issues and practices.
Religious Issues: Expressions related to faith and belief systems.
Public Policy: Debate on regulations and laws that affect society.
Campaign Speech: Speech made during election campaigns.
What are the somewhat protected types of speech?
Advertising: Commercial speech that promotes products/services, though subject to regulations.
Sexual Expression: Content related to sexuality that may be regulated depending on context.
What are the never-protected types of speech?
Blackmail: Coercion involving threats to reveal information.
Child Pornography: Exploitative content involving minors.
Defamation: False statements damaging to a person’s reputation.
False Advertising: Misleading promotion of products/services.
Fighting Words: Words that are likely to incite immediate violence.
Fraud: Deceptive practices intended to secure unfair or unlawful gain.
Incitement of Imminent Lawless Action: Speech aimed at provoking unlawful acts.
Obscenity: Offensive content that lacks serious value.
Perjury: Lying under oath.
Plagiarism: Unauthorized use of someone else’s work.
Solicitations to Commit Crimes: Requests for others to engage in illegal acts.
True Threats: Statements meant to instill fear of harm
How can government employees’ speech be limited, and what rights do they retain?
The government can limit speech from employees to ensure efficient functioning of agencies and to prevent disruptions. However, these employees retain their First Amendment rights, meaning they cannot be silenced simply for expressing their views unless it disrupts the workplace
What is the protection status of posts on social media based on their official or unofficial nature?
Official Posts: If an employee makes a post as part of their job (official capacity), it may not be protected under free speech rights.
Unofficial Posts: If the post is personal and not representing the government, it may receive some protection, but this is context-dependent.
What constitutes “Fighting Words” under the law?
Fighting words are those that by their very utterance are likely to provoke a violent reaction. The legal definition states they are words that, when spoken, tend to incite immediate violence or breach of peace.
Compare Incitement vs. Fighting Words in terms of legal definitions and implications.
Incitement: This involves the speaker’s intention to persuade others to engage in unlawful action, as defined in the Brandenburg v. Ohio case. The intent is to make someone act according to the speaker’s unlawful desires.
Fighting Words: These are direct provocations meant to incite a reaction from the listener. Unlike incitement, fighting words are aimed at the audience, intending to provoke immediate harm or aggression.
What criteria determine whether content is considered obscene?
The Miller Test outlines the criteria for obscenity:
Prurient Interest: Does the average person, applying contemporary community standards, find that the content appeals to sexual interest?
Offensive Depiction: Does it describe sexual conduct in a patently offensive way?
Lack of Value: Does the work, taken as a whole, lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value?
How is hate speech treated under U.S. law compared to other nations?
Hate speech is constitutionally protected in the U.S. under the First Amendment, allowing individuals to express derogatory or offensive views about groups. Private entities can regulate this speech. However, many other countries impose legal penalties for hate speech, and private entities can establish their own regulations to limit such expressions.
What was the key outcome of Burnside v. Byars (1966) (5th Circuit) regarding student speech?
The court ruled that students have the right to wear buttons expressing political views, asserting that First Amendment rights are protected on school grounds. This case emphasized viewpoint neutrality, meaning schools cannot favor or suppress specific viewpoints.
What legal precedent was set by Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)?
In this landmark case, the Supreme Court ruled that public school students do not lose their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate. The ruling emphasized that schools cannot prohibit student expression unless it significantly disrupts the educational environment.
What are Time, Place, and Manner Restrictions in the context of speech?
These are regulations that limit when, where, and how speech can be expressed, which are constitutional as long as they do not discriminate against the content of the speech. Schools and government entities may impose these restrictions to maintain order and safety.
Explain the U Chicago Calvin Principle regarding content-neutral policies.
Content-neutral policies are rules that do not relate to the message being expressed. For example, dress codes are permissible. However, rules that ban expressions based on their content (e.g., prohibiting hats that convey a specific message) are not allowed.
What was the central issue in Near v. Minnesota (1931)?
The case examined the legality of prior restraint, focusing on whether the government could censor a newspaper that accused public officials, including Jewish gangsters, of corruption. The Minnesota state government used the Public Nuisance Law to shut down The Saturday Press, arguing it was a public threat.
