The right to freedom of speech is a cornerstone of the Bill of Rights and the American system of government, but this freedom is not without limits. Discuss.
The Bill of Rights was drafted by James Madison. It was inspired however by Thomas Jefferson. Originally it was a draft of rights that were to protect the colonist’s rights against the newly formed government of America. The colonist’s believed that some kind of guarantee was necessary to protect their new found freedoms, which included the right to free speech, freedom of religious practice, freedom of the press to print their ideas and beliefs, and their right to be free from warrantless searches and seizure of property by the government. They had just won a war against England over …show more content…
This was the start of public interest law. Over time these groups began to gain supporters for their ideas and get their message across to the government. They began to, “create a body of law that made First Amendment freedoms, privacy rights, and the principles of equality and fundamental fairness come alive”, (https://www.aclu.org/bill-rights-brief-history). Because of the success of these groups many of the dormant laws proposed by the Bill of Rights are now being looked at again by the state and national governments. These new challenges are reaching out and questioning the Bill of Rights and how effective it may be. Still today though in our modern time this bill serves as the cornerstone of our basic American …show more content…
Just last week Donald Trump was accosted on national news for his comments on women, specifically Carly Fiorina, a female running for the office of president. He has also been accused of being bias towards Mexicans and their right to be in our country. Does he have the right to say these things, or is it all just a myth that we have the freedom to express our thoughts through free speech? There are no real exclusions in the Constitution that govern the idea of hate speech, or insults and offensive speech. The American Bar Association, a group that carries a large amount of weight in political matters in our country, says this on the matter, they define hate speech as, “speech that offends, threatens, or insults groups, based on race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or other traits”,
The Bill of Rights was drafted by James Madison. It was inspired however by Thomas Jefferson. Originally it was a draft of rights that were to protect the colonist’s rights against the newly formed government of America. The colonist’s believed that some kind of guarantee was necessary to protect their new found freedoms, which included the right to free speech, freedom of religious practice, freedom of the press to print their ideas and beliefs, and their right to be free from warrantless searches and seizure of property by the government. They had just won a war against England over …show more content…
This was the start of public interest law. Over time these groups began to gain supporters for their ideas and get their message across to the government. They began to, “create a body of law that made First Amendment freedoms, privacy rights, and the principles of equality and fundamental fairness come alive”, (https://www.aclu.org/bill-rights-brief-history). Because of the success of these groups many of the dormant laws proposed by the Bill of Rights are now being looked at again by the state and national governments. These new challenges are reaching out and questioning the Bill of Rights and how effective it may be. Still today though in our modern time this bill serves as the cornerstone of our basic American …show more content…
Just last week Donald Trump was accosted on national news for his comments on women, specifically Carly Fiorina, a female running for the office of president. He has also been accused of being bias towards Mexicans and their right to be in our country. Does he have the right to say these things, or is it all just a myth that we have the freedom to express our thoughts through free speech? There are no real exclusions in the Constitution that govern the idea of hate speech, or insults and offensive speech. The American Bar Association, a group that carries a large amount of weight in political matters in our country, says this on the matter, they define hate speech as, “speech that offends, threatens, or insults groups, based on race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or other traits”,