Censorship
When the founding fathers were writing our Nation’s Declaration of Independence they included our basic rights as citizens. Do you think they planned for our country being the way it is today? The First Amendment, in our Constitution has five basic freedoms: speech, religion, press, petition, and assembly. In this amendment, our Founding Fathers gave us the permission to express ourselves in almost every way possible. Censorship is when the government puts a ban on parts of movies, books etc… which the government decides is inappropriate or unacceptable (Fact Cite). Censorship is one thing that violates our first amendment rights. Our nation is losing the battle on censorship, and it is becoming an issue. What would have happened if we did not have people in history who wrote against the government and the people in it, or people who stood up for themselves in the Civil Rights Movement, if none of that ever happened we would still be a part of the British Empire, and having our afternoon tea and crumpets. Our freedom of Speech. Freedom of Press and our literature should not be censored by our government
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the exercise of free speech, press, or of the right of people to assemble and petition” (Miller). The Constitution of the United States says that congress cannot make any laws that would question our rights. Censorship questions those rights. Granted that slander, libel, obscenity, sedition are not protected under our five freedoms of the first amendment as said in the court case Chaplinksky versus New Hampshire (ProQuest Staff) we should be able to anything in the media we want to as long as we do not break those laws. People have the r...
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Miller, John A. "Banning Books Is an Affront to First Amendment." Morning Call. 18 Oct 2012: A.21. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 18 Nov 2013.
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Americans hate the word censorship. It puts fire into the eyes of any self proclaimed, speaker of the people. but is censorship that bad, or that wrong? Censorship is an enormous part of the stability of society. One of the many types of censorship takes place on the airwaves. Comedians, George Carlin, Howard Stern, and Mncow Muller had an enormous effect on the ideals of censorship in this era, trying to prove that the FCC had no right to censor radio airwaves. They questioned why words we all hear at home cannot be spoken on the radio if listeners are given a proper warning. However, there is no need for young children to be exposed to such lude material and the American people must be more reasonable about morals and stop worrying about our “First Amendment” rights.
McNamee, Gregory. "Absolutely True Tales Of Censorship." Kirkus Reviews 79.17 (2011): 1508. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
The First Amendment Center conducts a national annual survey on the First Amendment. “Americans clearly have mixed views of what First Amendment freedoms are and to whom they should fully apply. To me the results of this year’s survey endorse the idea of more and better education for young people - our nation’s future leaders - about our basic freedoms.” (Gene Policinski, VP and executive director of the First Amendment Center 2007)
Freedom of speech and expression is one of the most important rights that we have in this country. Our forefathers knew this and acknowledged this in our great constitution which protects our rights as citizens in America. Censorship is a complete contradiction to this concept that has helped make America the greatest country in the world. If we do not stand up for our rights for free speech, someday it may be taken away all together. Everyday there are people out there trying to ban and censor things from Americans, things that as an American you have the right to view. Censorship must be stopped at all costs.
Notable First Amendment court cases. (n.d.). American Library Association. Retrieved April 20, 2011, from www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/
The First Amendment states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances" (First Amendment Oct. 20, 2013). But "the First Amendment does not protect all speech from government censorship, and it does not prevent private non-government entities from censoring. Years of US Supreme Court decisions have identified exceptions to the general rule that the governments in the United States cannot censor" (Censorship Copyright © 2002). American citizen's right of freedom of speech should be held in the highest integrity and any kind of censorship of free speech should not be allowed because it take away those rights. However, censorship has been going on for centuries.
Censorship has been a big part of the world’s history and especially America’s history. One of the most quoted amendments to the United States constitution is the first amendment; “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ...” This amendment guaranteeing free speech, press, and religion is still heavily debated and contested today. Censorship, as a challenge to free speech and press has been allowed many times and has been heavily debated itself. Many people censor for many different reasons and in many different forms. Censorship itself is not always a bad thing and has in some cases been used for protection of the general population.
ProQuest Staff. “First Amendment Rights Timeline.” Leading Issues Timelines. 2013: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web 04 Dec 2013
Brian, Buchanan J. "About the First Amendment." First Amendment Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2011.
The United States of America's constitution should protect the "god given" freedoms of those governed under their democratic government. The First Amendment of the constitution states: "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press." Even with this amendment, the continuous banning of literature still occurs. What happened to the rights of the people? Isn't censorship technically illegal within America? According to the Westchester statement: "the freedom to read is guaranteed by the constitution" (Haight 126). So the right to read is not to be tampered with; however...
Censoring school books in libraries can often lead to censorship of our basic freedoms guaranteed in the First Amendment. In some cases, a minority ends up dictating the majority in censorship
The subject of censorship is a very controversial one, especially the banning of books. Many people believe they must protect themselves and others from the "evils" of many classic books and works of art because they can be deemed "indecent" in one way or another. Many believe that this is absurd and censorship in its current form is a violation of our First Amendment right to free speech. Personally, I align myself with the latter, however I do feel there are occasions where censorship is justifiable.
"Censorship and Freedom of Information." Issues and Controversies. Facts on File, n.d. Web. 4 Apr. 2014.
Since the foundation of the United States after a harsh split from Britain, almost 200 years later, an issue that could claim the founding grounds for the country is now being challenged by educators, high-ranking officials, and other countries. Though it is being challenged, many libertarians, democrats, and free-speech thinkers hold the claim that censorship violates our so-called unalienable rights, as it has been proven throughout many court cases. Censorship in the United States is detrimental because it has drastically and negatively altered many significant events. Censorship allows governments more control of society than they already have, slowly progressing governments utilizing censorship to a dictatorship. Often times, this censorship can lead to immense rebellions.