Slides

1. PO 379
Spring 2017

2. “Congress shall make no law…abridging the Freedom of Speech”

3.  Allows for an informed citizenry
 Provides against influence of government
 Provides a voice for the minority
 Preserves existence of truth in society

4.  Speech Criticizing the Government
 “Fighting Words” and Offensive Speech
 Symbolic Speech
 Sexually Explicit Speech
 Campaign Finance: Money as Speech?

6. DEFINITION OF SEDITION
 Speech criticizing the
government for the
purpose of inciting
rebellion
ALIEN AND SEDITION ACTS
(1798)

7.  “Free speech” did not occur after WWI
 Passage of sedition acts aimed at anyone
considered “anti-government”
 Two Main Goals:
 Limit anti-war ideas
 Limit supporters of radical governmental change

8. CHARLES SCHENCK JUSTICE HOLMES

17.  First Amendment does NOT automatically
protect against obscene speech
 Supreme Court and InformalTests
 MillerTest
 Does work offensively depict or describe sexual acts?
 SLAPSTest: Whether the work, taken as whole, lacks
serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific” value