Free Speech

Item set

• Bill of Rights (1791)
  Known as the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution guarantee certain personal rights and limit the power of the federal government. These amendments are continuously considered by the Supreme Court in their rulings.
• Sedition Act (1798)
  This is one of four acts known collectively as the Alien and Sedition Acts. These acts, passed by a Federalist-controlled Congress, applied restrictions to immigration and speech in the U.S. They were highly controversial and contributed to the Federalist defeat in the election of 1800. After 1802, only the Alien Enemies Act remained in force, and has continued to be invoked during times of war. The Sedition Act made it illegal to print "false, scandalous and malicious writing" against the U.S. government. It was used to suppress speech critical of the Federalist Party.
• Union Labor Injunctions (1903)
  This California act stated that workers who agreed to work together during a trade dispute between employees and employers were not eligible to be criminally charged for conspiracy. Courts could not issue injunctions against a group of workers for organizing together if the action they took as a group was an action a single person could do legally. This law was passed in 1903 to protect workers' right to organize and take collective action and to prevent employers from using conspiracy laws to crack down on union activity.
• Dennis v. United States (1951)
  In this case, the Supreme Court affirmed the convictions of a group of Communist Party organizers, upholding the Smith Act (1940), which criminalized advocating for the overthrow of the U.S. government. The court again examined the Smith Act in Yates v. United States (1957) before it overturned the ruling in the Dennis case with Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969). In Brandenburg, the court ruled that public speech advocating for unlawful acts was protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments, so long as it did not or was unlikely to incite "imminent lawless action."
• Yates v. United States (1957)
  In this case, the Supreme Court limited the scope of the Smith Act by holding that radical and reactionary speech was protected under the First Amendment, drawing a distinction between advocacy of forcible overthrow as an abstract principle and an effort to instigate action to that end. Unlike the decision in the earlier Dennis v. United States (1951) case, the court reversed the convictions of the Communist Party leaders.
• Keyishian v. Board of Regents (1967)
  In this case, the Supreme Court considered whether a New York law limiting the public employment of "subversive persons" was a violation of the First Amendment. The court in this case ruled that First Amendment restrictions must be narrow.
• Tinker v. Des Moines School District (1969)
  The Supreme Court's decision in this case recognized the First Amendment right to freedom of speech or expression in U.S. public schools.
• Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969)
  In this case, the Supreme Court ruled that an Ohio law prohibiting public speech that advocates for "crime, sabotage, violence, or unlawful methods of terrorism as a means of accomplishing industrial or political reform" violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The court held that such speech could only be prohibited "where such advocacy is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action."
• Garcetti v. Ceballos (2006)
  This Supreme Court case considered the amount of free speech a public employee can make in the course of their duties. The court ruled that the First Amendment does not apply to public employees when they speak as part of their job; it only applies when they speak as a private citizen.