Context
Freedom of speech has been a foundation of the United States since its inclusion within the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights. As a right that every citizen in the country is granted, US citizens are allowed to express themselves freely without major repercussion because they are protected by the Constitution. However, on March 9, 1942, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that expression is divided into two categories: speech that has social value, or is “worthwhile speech,” and speech that has no social value known as “worthless speech” (Tedford & Herbeck, 2013, p. 189). Known as Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, this case established what was determined “fighting words, but also stated that language that is obscene and profane can be regarded as worthless speech.
Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire was a result of a Jehovah’s Witness distributing literature on a New Hampshire street and calling organized religion a “racket.” The Witness was then arrested and proceeded to verbally assault the arresting city marshal. His words and actions created an immediate breach of the peace, and were aimed at inflicting injury, which would determine what would define “fighting words” (Tedford & Herbeck, 2013, p. 189). It was fifteen years later that “worthless speech” would again be defined in Roth v. United States. …show more content…
Entertainment Merchants Association, Chief Justice Antonin Scalia stated that "Like the protected books, plays, and movies that preceded them, video games communicate ideas and even social messages through many familiar literary devices, such as characters, dialogue, plot, and music” (Brown v. Electronic Merchants Association, 2011). Scalia’s opinion focused on relating video games to the other forms of media that came before it. While mediums like film, radio, television, and books have all gone through their own obscenity cases, the Court believed that the act was not fully meeting the Miller test to make the case
Freedom of speech has been a foundation of the United States since its inclusion within the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights. As a right that every citizen in the country is granted, US citizens are allowed to express themselves freely without major repercussion because they are protected by the Constitution. However, on March 9, 1942, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that expression is divided into two categories: speech that has social value, or is “worthwhile speech,” and speech that has no social value known as “worthless speech” (Tedford & Herbeck, 2013, p. 189). Known as Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, this case established what was determined “fighting words, but also stated that language that is obscene and profane can be regarded as worthless speech.
Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire was a result of a Jehovah’s Witness distributing literature on a New Hampshire street and calling organized religion a “racket.” The Witness was then arrested and proceeded to verbally assault the arresting city marshal. His words and actions created an immediate breach of the peace, and were aimed at inflicting injury, which would determine what would define “fighting words” (Tedford & Herbeck, 2013, p. 189). It was fifteen years later that “worthless speech” would again be defined in Roth v. United States. …show more content…
Entertainment Merchants Association, Chief Justice Antonin Scalia stated that "Like the protected books, plays, and movies that preceded them, video games communicate ideas and even social messages through many familiar literary devices, such as characters, dialogue, plot, and music” (Brown v. Electronic Merchants Association, 2011). Scalia’s opinion focused on relating video games to the other forms of media that came before it. While mediums like film, radio, television, and books have all gone through their own obscenity cases, the Court believed that the act was not fully meeting the Miller test to make the case