civil liberties of american citizens

8/3/2019 Civil Liberties of American Citizens

1/16

Chelsea Eugene

CIVIL LIBERTIES OF AMERICAN CITIZENS:

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

AND CENSORSHIP


2/16

WHAT IS A CIVIL LIBERTY?

Ones freedom to exercise ones right asguaranteed under the laws of the country


3/16

FIVE CIVIL LIBERTIES

Freedom of Speech

Freedom of Press

Freedom of Religion

Freedom of Petition

Freedom of Assembly

These liberties are all mentioned in the First Amendment of the

Constitution


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WHAT MATTERS

Swearing in a new president means that we are flushed

with new problems and concerns that we both want and

need our president to handle.

We have to look at the decisions of which our last

president made and go from there.


5/16

Freedom of Speech andCensorship

As Americans we have thefreedom of expression this

includes: The right not to speak (or

salute the flag)

Use certain offensive wordsto convey political messages

To engage in symbolicspeech (or burning of theflag in public)

What it excludes:

Incite actions that would harm

others

Burning drafting cards as an

anti-war protest

Students making an obscene

speech during a school

sponsored event

Students selling/distributing

drugs at a school sponsoredevent

To make or distribute obscene

materials

WHAT IT MEANS


6/16

WHY WE SHOULD CARE

Everyone wants to be able to say what they want, it is a no

given. As Americans, we are born into that right. Sometimes the

government gets into the way of that. This is where we have to

draw the line between what is fair and what is right. Frederick Douglas once said To suppress free speech is a

double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as the

speaker. This quote says a lot about how far we as individuals

are willing to take our given powers.


7/16

WESTBORO BAPTIST CHURCH

Westboro Baptist Church has become more famous for its picketing and openly

judgmental attitude than it has for its life changing sermons.

Synder v Phelps:

The founder of the church, Fred Phelps, along with a few of its members

traveled to Maryland to picket at the funeral of Marine Lance Corporal MatthewSnyder. The marine, who died in line of duty, was in no way of relation or had

had any contact with the church. The picketers stationed 1000 feet from the

funeral and displayed signs that read Thank God for dead soldiers, Fags

Doom Nations, America Is Doomed, Youre Going To Hell, and Priests

Rapes Boys. This went on 30 minutes prior to the funeral service. Those

attending the service would not learn what the signs said until they saw it on thenews. Synder, the father of the deceased marine filed a diversity against

everyone included in the picketing, this included the church as well.


8/16

THE CASE

Snyder claims were brought in part of intentional infliction of emotional

distress, intrusion upon seclusion, and civil conspiracy.

Westboro defended themselves by saying that being held liable for millions

of dollars as a result of their actions was much to excessive and they should

be judged on the grounds of the First Amendment fully protecting theirfreedom of speech

The problem of which is the matter here is that liability lies on whether the

speech is of public or private concern. In this case, you have to examine the

form, content, and context of the speech.

For those not completely knowledgeable of law definitions and terms, it looksas ifWestboro has indeed caught itself between a rock and a hard place.

One would think that as a church they would have enough discretion not to

protest at a funeral. Not only is it immoral, but it is an improper setting.


9/16

RULING

Chief Justice John Roberts ruled that "What Westboro said, in

the whole context of how and where it chose to say it, is entitled

to 'special protection' under the First Amendment and that

protection cannot be overcome by a jury finding that thepicketing was outrageous

In this situation one has to ask themselves how are we suppose

to accept conditions such as these when a verbal and emotional

attack has no infliction on the court?


10/16

CENSORSHIP

Censorship is the control of speech and or any public

communication as seen harmful, insensitive determined

by media outlets, the government or any other

controlling body.


11/16

CENSORSHIP IN AMERICA

Just about anything you can think of in America is censored. Some of thembeing:

Moral - Educational sources

Military - Music and Pop Culture Political - Maps, Internet, Meta

Religious - Creative

Corporate

FCC: Federal Communication Commissions, created "for the purpose of the

national defense" and "for the purpose of promoting safety of life and

property through the use of wire and radio communications."


12/16

INFLUENCING THE TEXTS/BANNED BOOKS

A common form of censorship is in educational materials and

resources. Textbooks are whitewashing, in which anything of

conflicting or critical analysis is taken out. In higher education,

texts are formed in a way to influence the thought process of the

reader. Information is changed subjectively for fear of

inappropriateness.

Banned Book Week is an awareness about the censorship of

books that have been challenged in the educational system. A

book could be banned under the circumstances of political,

religious, sexual or social reasoning.


13/16

American Heritage Dictionary

Banned in Anchorage, Alaska in 1987

for the slang definitions of bed,

knockers, and balls

Wheres Waldo

Banned in Michigan and New York fora topless sunbather (the size of a

pinhead) on the beach

Harriet The Spy

Accused of teaching children to spy,

talkback, curse and lie

SurprisingCensors

Banned Books


14/16

The British version of the show

was co-written by real teens and

dealt with real issues: sex, drugs,depression, and sexuality. Most

shows in the United States get

flack for their main characters

having casual sex and profanity

are used in the forms of words

like ass, dickand bitch.

You can always tell a British

television show from its American

counterpart, and it is not onlybecause of their given accents

A popular show in the UK, Skins,

was tried out in the US. With only

three episodes under its belt,

sponsors began pulling their adsand it was a shoo-in to get cut for

a second season.

TELEVISION IN THE UK


15/16

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN

We are given rights, but they are in some ways unbeknownst to us,

taken away. In the case of censorship, we are persuaded to believe

that the FCC and the like are trying to collectively help us by

banning certain websites/movies/books etc. How can we express

ourselves if we are being cut short? This is an ongoing issue in

America, and although there are a lot of countries that not only

censor their citizens, but monitor them, we should still be allowed

our written rights.


16/16

MLA CITING

Censorship: In the United States." The Columbia Electron ic Encyclopedia.

1994, 2000-2006, on Infoplease. 20002007 Pearson Education, publishing as

Infoplease.16 Nov. 2011 http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/society/A0857225.html

Herbeck, Dale A., and Thomas L. Tedford. "Freedom of Speech in the United

States."Boston College. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Sept. 2011.

Web. 16 Nov. 2011. http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/comm/free_speech/update11.pdf

Lombardi, Esther. "What Is a Banned Book?" Books & L iterature Classics. About.com. Web.

16 Nov. 2011.

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