Freedom Of Speech Regulations Essay

The Freedom of Speech Regulations

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects one of the most fundamental individual rights, the freedom of speech. If people were not able to speak and think freely without the fear of punishment, they would not have an opportunity to express their political views and ideas, and their involvement in the political process would be greatly restricted. The freedom of speech is an inseparable part of democracy, and, as the U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Ginsburg stated at The Kalb Report that was aired on April 17, 2014, “The right to speak my mind out. That’s America”. The freedom of speech, however, is not an absolute right. The Constitution does not prohibit government from enacting laws restricting speech, but it rather states that Congress shall make no laws abridging the freedom of

In order for a content-based restriction to be held constitutional, it must meet the strict scrutiny test: the restriction must serve a compelling state interest, and it should be narrowly tailored to serve the interest in the least restrictive way possible. This is an extremely difficult test to pass. Most of the content-based laws are fail to do so and, as a result, are found unconstitutional as an abridgement of freedom of speech. Another category of laws regulates the time, place, and manner of speech, and they are called content-neutral laws. The constitutionality of the law with a content-neutral restriction on speech is judged on a lesser standard of review, and the regulation must pass intermediate scrutiny test: restrictions must serve significant or substantial government interest, it should be narrowly tailored, and the guidelines should leave an open alternative channels for communication. As a rule, content-neutral laws are easier to pass and more likely to be held