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Civil Liberties

Freedom of Expression

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A civil Liberty Issue Essay

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Introduction

In this essay, freedom of speech coupled with freedom of expression as a civil liberty

issue are discussed with reference to the case of an article published by The Atlantic. The title of

the article is “The Most Short-sighted Attack on Free Speech in Modern U.S History.” Freedom

of expression falls under the categories of freedoms that the government cannot curtail by any

means possible either by judicial processes or by a change of law. In this essay, the civil liberty

issue identified in the article will be discussed, the constitutional passages that are relevant to this

civil liberty issue discussed, and the argument of both legal sides identified.

What is the Civil Liberty Issue in Question?

The Civil Liberty in question as found in the article is with regard to the freedom of

expression. Freedom of expression stipulates out that one is free to express him or herself out

without the interference of the government or any other entity. One can do so in many of the

forms available like publications, the media, the internet and in the form of art (Londino, 2010).

In the article, “The most short sighted Attack of Free Speech in Modern U.S History”, there is

the narration of how the freedom of speech has been abridged by the government when the same

government that is left with the sole responsibility of implementing and protecting the

constitution is the one undermining people’s right to express themselves freely. On the same

note, from the article, it is evident that the freedom of speech provides a loophole for the hate

speech to thrive “the instances when the Nazis hold demonstrations on the streets with arms,

insulting abuses to the blacks and the Jews, someone had still think of protecting their right to

free speech.”

The article also highlights the critical questions that have lacked answers as far as

freedom of speech is concerned for example, to what extent is the freedom of speech justified

especially when it gets to the point of clearly transforming to hate speech? Citing the instance of

the Nazis marching in the streets of America hulling insults at LGBT and other minorities and

worse, even killing them, the article calls for the law society to reconsider how justified the

freedom of expression is with regards to the first amendment.

The article highlights the views of an attorney, Ken White, who has Civil-libertarian

views and who beliefs that that the constitution should protect hate speech mongers if freedom of

expression is to be felt in the land of America, a nation that is thought to be the ultimate nation of

freedom. This is in response to the fact that those people who advocate for free speech have

vague opinions with regards to hate speech. He cites his personal justification to the fact that the

country can be under the leadership of who has the same line of thought as the people who

perpetrate others in the name of the freedom of speech.

What Constitutional Passages are Relevant to the Discussion?

In the article, “The most short- sighted Attack of Free Speech in Modern U.S History”,

the constitutional passage that features the most is the first amendment. In the U.S constitution,

the first amendment is the passage that gives protection to the freedom of expression amongst

other civil liberties. This provision prevents any law that curtails the any civil liberty be it on the

freedom of expression, freedom of religion, freedom of the press and the right to petitions. The

first amendment gives important provisions with regards to the freedom of speech and the

freedom of expression. Giving the people the right to free speech is the most fundamental step

towards achieving freedom of expression (Aikat, 2013).The Supreme Court has given the

direction with regards to the justification for instances where there has been interference with the

rights of expressing oneself in a free manner. Therefore, it would be out of order for one to be

held responsible for remarks that are either spoken or written as long as the remarks are a

representation of their honest remarks and views regarding a specific subject.

Legal argument in the case

From the perspective of an attorney, a legal argument exists in the case, “The shortest

sighted Attack of Free Speech in Modern U.S History”. The argument in this perspective is in

regards to whether the freedom of expression should be given preference over hate speech.

Sometimes, the freedom of speech is justified so much even for instances whereby the provision

leads to the infringement of the fundamental rights to humanity; hatred in the form of hate

speech. The fact that the first amendments provides for the existence of the freedom of

expression in the first amendment, it does not entirely mean that the same can’t be taken away.

There are instances that can lead to the restriction of this right. Those instances include, when

intending to protect national security and the welfare of the co-citizens in the country, when

intending to prevent disorder or even crime for instance, with the example of Nazis shooting and

killing innocent people when demonstrating and killing the blacks, when intending to uphold the

morals of the people in a country and when intending to protect the rights of other people.

Conclusion

Freedom of expression stipulates out that one is free to express him or herself out without

the interference of the government or any other entity. One can do so in many of the forms

available like publications, the media, the internet and in the form of art. This essay has explored

much on the freedom of expression by studying an article published by the Atlantic, “The most

short- sighted Attack of Free Speech in Modern U.S History”. It has also featured the first

amendment which prevents any law that curtails the any civil liberty be it on the freedom of

expression, freedom of religion, freedom of the press and the right to petitions. The first

amendment gives important provisions with regards to the freedom of speech and the freedom of

expression.

References

Frye, J. (2014). Big Ag Gags the Freedom of Expression. First Amendment Studies, 48(1), pp.27-

43.

Abraham, M. (2015). Conceptualizing Academic Freedom After the Salaita Affair. First

Amendment Studies, 49(1), pp.8-12.

Cloud, D. (2015). “Civility” as a Threat to Academic Freedom. First Amendment Studies, 49(1),

pp.13-17.

Margesson, R. (2015). A Special Kind of “Right”: The Supreme Court’s Affirmation of

Academic Freedom. First Amendment Studies, 49(2), pp.86-97.

Moro, N. and Aikat, D. (2013). Liberty v. Libel: Disparity and Reconciliation in Freedom of

Expression Theory. First Amendment Studies, 47(1), pp.58-83.

Appendix

Appendix A

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/the-most-shortsighted-attack-on-free-

speech-in-modern-history/537468/

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