The U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, which includes the first amendment, is a set of principles designed to protect freedoms of all Americans all of the time. And, yet, that becomes complicated because these documents also contain a list of competing rights and duties. What happens when one person asserts one constitutional right or duty and another person asserts a different one?
Here are a couple of examples:
Example 1: A man on trial for the murder of his wife asserted his right to have a fair trial. But, local journalists asserted their right to report on his trial, including their right to report on any facts or rumors they had discovered. Both of their “rights” were in conflict.
Example 2: The U.S. government has the right and obligation to “provide for the common defense.” Sometimes that will lead the government to claim the right to keep secret certain military and diplomatic information. A newspaper wanted to publish such “secrets” without censorship and cited the Constitution’s guarantee of freedom of the press. Here a “duty” and a “right” were in conflict.
Example 3: A man gave an anti-Semitic speech on the street corner of a Jewish neighborhood in New York City. His speech included inflammatory ideas, such as the idea that Jews be “burnt in incinerators.” The Jewish residents in the neighborhood were angry and outraged. The police commissioner revoked the man’s license to hold public meetings on the streets. When he didn’t stop the speeches, he was arrested for speaking without a permit. Here the “right” to free speech competed with the preservation of public order.
So, how would you decide these cases?
Here’s what the courts said:
Example 1: The courts ruled in favor of the defendant in Ohio. His right to a fair trial was being compromised by the “free” speech.
Example 2: The court ruled in favor of the newspaper, The New York Times. It was allowed to publish the “Pentagon Papers.”
Example 3: The court ruled in favor of the man making the anti-Semitic speeches. While his speech was distasteful, he did have the right to make it.
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1 Liberté d’expression - Les dossiers du WebPédagogique - LeWebPédagogique // 8 mar 2007 le
[...] Des articles en anglais sur le sujet par Bevan Vinton… - Le premier amendement de la Constitution américaine : “Most Americans consider the first amendment of the Constitution to be sacred. That amendment is the first of the ten amendments that make up the Bill of Rights. “ - Liberté d’expression et droit de vote : “A democracy is based on the premise of citizen participation, often through the voting process. Is there a functioning democracy if voters do not show up at the polls?” - Liberté d’expression et trouble de l’ordre public : “What happens when one person asserts one constitutional right or duty and another person asserts a different one? ” Lire le cas numéro 3 sur le sujet. [...]
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