The Evolution of the Right to Free Speech
The first amendment of the US constitution includes the right to free speech as a constitutional guarantee. The fundamental idea underlying the cry for free speech was to live without the fear of going to jail for expressing one’s opinions. The constitution’s creators paved the way for this. The United States adopted the Bill of Rights in 1791, and since then, numerous new laws have been passed and put into effect to strengthen the right to free expression (The Constitution of United States of America, 2004). More importantly, the evolution of the right to free speech has led to exceptional in the civil rights and civil liberties. Nonetheless, this constitutional right denotes to be an essential component which makes people be free in their nation. In respect to this, privileges, such as voting, protesting and expression of opinions on matters which affect the nation do not face any restrictions from the government. This paper will delve into the analysis of positive and negative implications of civil rights, federalism and civil liberties in free speech.
Implication of Federalism on Free Speech
Federalism is one of the most essential and innovative accepts that is grounded in the American constitution. The formation of federalism was driven by the need to construct independent entities of the federal and state government as well as define the power of every branch. Through this, the power of the federal government and the state are limited. The concept of federalism was influenced by the British government, and it denotes to be an important tool created by the framers of the constitution in attempts to protect people from government abuse. Federalism promotes the right of free speech and makes people express themselves without the fear of harsh judgment.
One of the most critical positive impacts of federalist on freedom of speech is the promotion of democracy. The legislature provides the Americans with the right to speak freely. This right gives the Americans the right to talk freely without worrying about the effect of being prosecuted. Notably, freedom of speech is one of the basic rights which many Americans consider to be fundamental for the promotion of democracy in the nation. The objective of the First Amendment was to allow people to express themselves. Here, the government does not have any right to hinder people from expressing their views. Dudley (2005) illustrates that federalism impact on free speech is that makes every person possess the right speech. In the first amendment, it is asserted that “Congress shall make no law…a bridging the freedom of speech” (Grégoire, 2014). Since 1797 when the constitution was created, the founders of the constitution made changes aimed at influencing the lives of people. Also, the idea of federalism which is embedded in the constitution placed a disturbance within the government system and laws. Federalism gave limitations to the powers of the state and federal government.
Perhaps, the idea that federalism on freedom of speech grants the local and the state government more control to impact better on the society.
The existence of state and federal governments removes the uncertainties and makes the Supreme Court make proper decisions. An example is in the Friedrichs vs. California Teachers’ association case. Here, the Christian group was said to have violated the constitutional right of free space and the members were forced to pay agency fees. The government was then forced to intervene by rescinding the monetary aid of the groups as they voiced out their personal beliefs (Kaplan, 2016). Thus the constitution reinforces the constitution in safeguarding the rights of people.
A negative effect of federalism emanates from the restrictions that the government places on the right of free speech. For example, for people who send a threat to other people such as elected officials in the government face law and could be tried and punished by the law. In this case, speech is constituted to be a crime. The fact that speech can be used to be punished by the law does not render it to be fully free of speech, and this is a shortcoming. Extremists also develop the power to overexpress their matters which they believe is correct. For this reason, the number of groups driven by hatred existing in the nation sored in 2015. The extremists emanated from the Confederate flag, and also, the brutality done by the police have seen the number grow high. These extremists groups use the freedom of speech to express what they believe violates the right of freedom to speech even if this is not the case. An example is seen in the case where the decision of primary and secondary school teachers’ curriculum is not in any way entitled to free speech protection. What is more striking is the fact that the lives of teachers tend to be under heavy scrutiny on matters concerning the school and their speech is analyzed.
Implication of Civil Rights on Freedom of Speech
Civil right pledges for equality to every citizen along with the power to engage the activities without the fear of discrimination as it was the case when slavery was rampant in the nation. For example, examining the recent occurrences, there have been cases where the Caucasian policemen shoot the African American citizens. Hence, the violence that pledged Baltimore made the African Americans protest to the local authorities in their struggle to demand justice. According to the First Amendment, “the US constitution prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing the freedom of the press, interfering with the right of peaceably assemble” (Grégoire, 2014). According to the America constitution, protesting is protected under the first amendment, and free speech is a form of self-expression as long it does not cause harm to others. Martin Luther King Jr. stood up to demonstrate the right of people without violence. Through this effort, the civil rights were enacted and this promoted social equality. Therefore, civil right promotes equality for all through free speech in the current society and efforts have been made to stop segregation of the minority groups. The Plessy vs. Ferguson case which sought equality in public transport is an example of civil right case and people protested against inequality.
Besides, freedom of speech depicted to be a fundamental right during the civil rights movement which occurred in the 1950s. Here, the First Amendment was significant when the blacks struggle to attain equality. Under the leadership of Martin Luther King Jr., many protests, demonstrations as well as marches were made and aimed at achieving a social change. Eventually, the objectives of the civil rights movement were accomplished through the constitutional right to freedom of speech. The blacks were able to voice out their views and demand for equality. The protests were able to speak out the injustices that were perpetrated against them through the freedom of speech.
Implication of Civil Liberty on Free Speech
The influence of civil liberties on the right of free speech embeds in the ability to vote, the right to have a fair trial and the right to marry who a person deserves. According to Drake and Nelson (1999) “a bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference.” “The Bill of Rights” was adopted in the constitution, and this protected the citizens as the government was not able to take actions against a person. Civil liberties also promote freedom of the press.
A negative implication of civil liberties is seen in the Miranda Rights.
When a person is arrested, he or she is normally told that “Whatever you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.” This statement acts a warning and makes the bill of rights to be a limitation. Also, after the September 2011 attack, the nation was drawn into panic, and people relied on the government for guidance. There was thus the creation of USA Patriot Act, and President George Bush signed it into law. This altered the civil liberty legislature, and the private life of people was scrutinized in order to protect people. Over time, this has come out to be a fundamental factor in protecting the nation against terrorist attack. However, the USA Patriot Act also poses to be a great threat as the government seems to violate the human rights (Rigoglioso, 2014). This allows the governed to invade the privacy of people, and hence it taps into conversations of other people when seeking for evidence. This violates the freedom of speech. The USA Patriot Act tend to deprive people the right to have free expression. This is a definite violation of the constitutional right. Again, freedom of speech is civil liberty which has a positive impact on the social environment. It allows one to know what the other person thinks as people have the right to express themselves on all matters about the social environment.
Conclusion
An American constitution is an important tool for the American people. The constitution allows people to exercise freedom of speech. Civil rights, federalism, and civil rights are all entangled within the constitutional right and center on freedom of speech. From the above argument, it is evident that there are many positive and negative factors embedded in the constitution which impact on the free speech. The bill of rights protects people and makes people express themselves on how they feel about the government fully. Federalism grants people the freedom to express to the fullest extent. The civil rights movement was responsible for fighting for equality of people. As evident from federalism, the freedom of speech is not free as there are cases which limit a person. Some laws such as USA Patriot Act invade into people’s privacy and thus does not fully grant people their right to free speech.
References
Drake, F., & Nelson, L. (1999). States’ rights and American federalism. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.
Dudley, W. (2005). Freedom of speech. San Diego, Calif.: Greenhaven Press.
Grégoire, J. (2014). Beyond the Liberal Route to Federalism: Republican Freedom. Theoria, 61(138). http://dx.doi.org/10.3167/th.2014.6113802
Kaplan, M. (2016). US Hate Groups Rise in 2015: Immigration, Black Lives Matter, Confederate Flag Debates Fuel Extremism, Report Finds. International Business Times: Retrieved on January 8, 2018 from http://www.ibtimes.com/us-hate-groups-rise-2015-immigration-black-lives-matter-confederate-flag-debates-fuel-2310645
Rigoglioso, M. (November 13, 2014). Civil Liberties and Law in the Era of Surveillance. In SLS. Retrieved on January 8, 2018 from from https://law.stanford.edu/stanford-lawyer/articles/civil-liberties-and-law-in-the-era-of-surveillance/.
The Constitution of United States of America. (2004). About America: The Constitution of the United States of America. Retrieved on January 8, 2018 from http://library2.parliament.go.th/ebook/content-eboth/conofusa.pdf
