Free Speech Vs Hate Speech

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Free Speech vs. Hate Speech
The First Amendment, adopted December 15, 1791, states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances,” and is the basis the United States has used for hundreds of years to claim freedom of speech for its citizens. However, it has been discovered that this cannot be an absolute freedom without endangering the public. Most people will agree that the decision to outlaw yelling “FIRE” in a crowded theater is practical and permissible. The question then becomes: What more should the government …show more content…
For the purpose of this discussion, hate speech is defined as “speech or conduct that negatively targets a group or individual based on race, religion, or sexual orientation” [4]. The hate crimes referenced are crimes based on biases held about to the same issues. Fighting words are considered words that directly cause violent behavior of the individual to which they were addressed. These definitions are slightly different, depending on the legislation looked at, but these are the key points that are ever …show more content…
Hate crime statutes made their debut in the late 1980s and continued to get their start through the early 1990s. As of 2010, “There are laws in 31 states that allow a victim to file a civil lawsuit for injuries caused by a hate crime” [5]. There are four categories of hate crime laws, (1) laws that actually declare the act to be a crime, (2) laws that increase the penalties for crimes committed due to hate, (3) laws that provide grounds for a victim to issue a lawsuit, and (4) laws that require records be made of all hate crimes. Usually, when discussing hate crime, it refers to the second option, harsher punishments for those who are proven to be committing a crime because of hate. This seems redundant by nature because most people would figure that harming someone or their property does not testify to affection. The laws seem to emphasize if you hate a group of people for a specific uncontrollable detail, you are more

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