Is Profanity Protected Free Speech?
However, is profanity actually protected by our first amendment rights? Can people freely walk down the street cussing at each other without fear of recrimination or reprisal?
Fortunately, the first amendment, which protects our right to speak freely, only addresses the limitations that our government can set on what we can say. Many believe that free speech means that they can say whatever they like, and that nobody can do anything about it. The truth is, free speech can be highly limited depending upon where you are at.
If you walk into a church and start cussing at the pastor/priest/rabbi, they can ask you to leave, and if you do not leave, they can then have you arrested for criminal trespass. Does this violate your right to free speech? Of course it does not! The church is private property, and those who manage the church have the right to decide who can be there and who can stay.
However, if you are standing on a public sidewalk in front of the church, and you start to yell that same profanity at the church, or you start lifting profanity-laced signs, can the church make you leave? This time, they cannot. If you start to insult individuals, or harass church members, you will quickly find your "right to free speech" curtailed by the police for 'disturbing the peace'. Why? Because in this case you are using words as a weapon to inflict emotional distress on others.
Thus, though every person has the right to say what they want, or to print their views, no matter how offensive, there is no absolute right to speech that is meant to harm others, or can be reasonably expected to cause distress in others.
If you would like to prove this conclusively, try using profanity in an elementary school and see what the result it. It is indeed public property, but I somehow doubt that you will have your first amendment rights protected when you go to court.
Published by Alan Fernald
Navy Veteran, Blogger, Student of life View profile
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3 Comments
Post a CommentActually Freedom of Speech, meant freedom to speak out against the government without fear of punishment. We are all born with the freedom to say whatever we want and people use the First Amendment as their excuse to be rude. Some time after those cats wrote the Constitution that amendment was the cause of arguements about censorship and the government's "right" to do so. I think the more power we give to the government, the less we have and that is not what a democracy is about. Do wish people would grow up and not create things that are offensive to many; such as radio shows. Bad for the children.
So Clark..you do want controls placed on the media...you are one of those who champion the "freedom to be like Me" aren't you? And critical dissent is the only thing keeping America from tumbling into an abyss, my friend.
I do not want many controls placed on free speech, but I am dismayed that many in the news media use the power of the medium to destructively criticize America and create a society that is so polarized that paralysis grips the ability of America to implement any reasonable solution to a myriad of problems confronting our nation.