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The New York Times v. Sullivan The 1st amendment gives us the freedom of speech, religion, petition and assembly. It also gives us the freedom of the press. The Press is granted the right to publish news, information and opinions without government getting involved. In this case, this right is questioned. New York Times V. Sullivan is an important landmark case because it protects the press from libel action for making false statements about public officials, unless, they were made with actual malice. The origin of this case started with an advertisement in The New York Times named Heed Their Rising Voices. Before the ad was published, Martin Luther King was arrested for perjury charges relating to two fraudulent tax returns in 1956 and 1958. As a result, a committee was founded to help raise money for King`s legal defense. During March of 1960, the Committee to Defend Martin Luther King and the Struggle for Freedom in the South published a full page ad in the New York Times to gain donations for both King`s defense and other things related to Civil Rights Movement such as suppor...
In the majority opinion, Justice White wrote “Educators did not offend the First Amendment by exercising editorial control over the content of student speech so long as their actions were” The court also noted that the paper was a sponsored newspaper by the school which was not intended to be seen by the public, but rather for journalism students to write articles based off of the requirements for journalism 2 class, and all subjects must be appropriate for the school and all its
In the Supreme Court case of the New York Times Co. vs. United States there is a power struggle. This struggle includes the entities of the individual freedoms against the interests of federal government. It is well known that the first amendment protects the freedom of speech, but to what extent does this freedom exist. There have been instances in which speech has been limited; Schenck vs. United States(1919) was the landmark case which instituted such limitations due to circumstances of “clear and present danger”. Many have noted that the press serves as an overseer which both apprehends and guides national agenda. However, if the federal government possessed the ability to censor the press would the government restrain itself? In the case of the Pentagon Papers the necessities of individual freedoms supersedes the scope of the national government.
On April 3rd, 1963, the Birmingham campaign began and people were protesting against racism and injustice. The non-violent campaign was coordinated by King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. However, King was arrested along with other main leaders of the campaign on April 12th for disobeying the rules of “no parading, demonstrating, boycotting, trespassing and picketing”. While jailed, King read a letter (“A Call for Unity”) written by eight white Alabama clergymen against King and his methods from the newspaper. In the letter, the clergymen stated that the campaign was "directed and led in part by outsiders," urging activists to use the courts if rights were being denied rather than to protest.
The case started in Topeka, Kansas, a black third-grader named Linda Brown had to walk one mile through a railroad switchyard to get to her black elementary school, even though a white elementary school was only seven blocks away. Linda's father, Oliver Brown, tried to enroll her in the white elementary school seven blocks from her house, but the principal of the school refused simply because the child was black. Brown went to McKinley Burnett, the head of Topeka's branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and asked for help (All Deliberate Speed pg 23). The NAACP was eager to assist the Browns, as it had long wanted to challenge segregation in public schools. The NAACP was looking for a case like this because they figured if they could just expose what had really been going on in "separate but equal society" that the circumstances really were not separate but equal, bur really much more disadvantaged to the colored people, that everything would be changed. The NAACP was hoping that if they could just prove this to society that the case would uplift most of the separate but equal facilities. The hopes of this case were for much more than just the school system, the colored people wanted to get this case to the top to abolish separate but equal.
While addressing the clergymen’s public statement, King successfully encouraged his followers to stay in a hopeful and devoted state of mind despite the clergymen’s advice to cease demonstrations and marches. This is the reason why this letter is so important to the civil rights movement. It proved that although King was arrested, he remained hopeful in his boycotts, his sit-ins, and his demonstrations, because he believed in a better future for society.
In the documentary film, Page One: Inside The New York Times, the inner world of journalism is revealed through journalists David Carr and Brian Stelter as the newspaper company The New York Times, struggles to keep alive within a new wave of news journalism. The film is dedicated to reveal the true inner mechanics of what modern day new journalists face on a daily basis and leaves the audience almost in a state of shock. It broadcasts news journalism as yes, an old school method of news generation, but it also highlights an important component that reveals the importance behind this “old school” methodology. We often think that progression always correlates with positive products, but the documentary insists that within the case of modern journalism, the new wave method is actually a detriment that can reap negative consequences.
Under First Amendment law, Dickey had the right to publish the article because TSU relied on state funds to function, thus making it a government entity. Even if the editorial was stopped because it criticized the Alabama government, the Free Press Clause protects citizens’ and media’s right to express themselves through written idea, opinions and dissemination of information without interference or censorship from the government. This case also enacted that public schools were not responsible for what their student media published and could not be threatened with state funding cuts, nor could public universities use state funding as means to censor student media. The court went on to add that the university did not have to hire Dickey as
Hayes, chapter eight). There, it was ruled that there is no constitutional privilege for journalists. Justice Byron White wrote that the grand jury plays an important, constitutional role that outweighs any burden on newsgathering that might come from the occasional subpoena to reporters. In relation to the same case, three justices wrote a checklist for when the government should be able to require a journalist to reveal his or her sources. Those were: 1. That there is probable cause to believe the journalist has clearly relevant information regarding a specific probable violation of law; 2. That the information cannot be obtained in some other way that does not so heavily infringe on the First Amendment; and 3. That there is a compelling and overriding interest in the information. Even though these guidelines only were made in a dissenting opinion, they have been frequently used in state courts and lower federal courts. In criminal cases in federal courts, the defendant 's Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial or the law enforcements ' need to conduct a full investigation is considered more important (chapter eight). At the same time, the majority of the U.S. states have shield laws that gives a reporter 's privilege, but there does not exist a federal shield law. When taking into consideration that journalists are not protected in federal law in form of a reporters ' privilege or shield law, it might take some of the feeling of freedom away when writing. A press is not free, if it cannot get sources to talk about controversial matters, because they fair to be revealed in court. The press should be able to write about matters such as governmental corruption without risking going to jail when refusing to give up the sources for the story. That the U.S. government is willing to punish journalists that do not reveal their sources jeopardizes the freedom of the
The first amendment states every United States citizen has the right to press, petition, assembly freedom of religion, and freedom of speech. Also, the amendment states the government is not allowed to make any law that breaks the rights of a citizen. In the case, Tinker v. Des Moines School District (1969), the argument was if the students’ first amendment was violated, but the public schools are not an appropriate place to express freedom of speech.
Another similar case was the Dred Scott Decision. Dred Scott, being a black man during the 1820's, was yet again considered inferior to bring his case to the court. From a reader's point of view, Dred Scott's case was very legit. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 made Scott a free man. All of the blacks going through the 35'36 altitude/latitude line were said to be free men. When Dred Scott entered Illinois, he entered thinking he was a free man, until his owner assaulted him upon the return. Dred Scott did his best to bring not one but three assault cases to the court against his "owner", John F. A. Sanford; however, the court dismissed him as inferior to take any participation or even demand a fair trial. The court also called upon the Missouri Compromise as unconstitutional because of deprivation of personal property, which in this case was Dred Scott - a property of John Sanford. Eventually the sons of Sanford purchased Scott and his wife, and set them free. Scott died just a year after that.
"Freedom of Speech: Missouri Knights of the Ku Klux Klan v. Kansas City" is an article about the KKK's attempt to spread their beliefs through a public access cable television channel. Dennis Mahon and Allan Moran, both of the KKK, asked to be broadcasted on air in 1987, and the whole situation led to a major problem. The KKK is known for its killings, prejudice, and cross burnings, and they wanted to be shown on television to further spread their message. The First Amendment states the right to the freedom of speech, but many of the community members had a problem with the whole situation. People with race relations, local leaders, and members of the cable company did not want to grant the KKK the right to appear on air. Black ministers and important politicians were not happy with the KKK's request to voice their opinions. The KKK complied with all of the rules that were presented by the cable company, even when they were told to create a locally produced show and receive training in video production. They happily obeyed the regulations and didn't cause additional problems to what they were soon to face. The cable company studio was located in a neighborhood that was 95% black, and violence was a major concern for the cable company. Many of those people threatened to drop their cable subscriptions if the K...
The demonstrations resulted in the arrest of protesters, including Martin Luther King. After King was arrested in Birmingham for taking part in a peaceful march to draw attention to the way that African-Americans were being treated there, their lack of voter rights, and the extreme injustice they faced in Alabama, he wrote his now famous “Letter from Birmingham.” In order to gain an understanding of King’s purpose for the letter, it is important to begin by explaining “A Call of Unity”, a letter written by a group of white clergymen urging the end to the demonstrations. The letter was published in the Birmingham Post Herald with a copy given to King. The letter made many claims including that the demonstrations were led by outsiders, they were unwise and untimely, and urged the black community to withdraw their support (Carpenter, Durick, Grafman, Hardin, Murray, Ramage, Stallings, & Harmon, 1963)....
In the United States of America, the First Amendment is one of the things that distinguishes us from any other nations. The First Amendment guarantees the absolute freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom to exercise any religion and freedom to assemble. In many countries,the press gets censored and people who publicly express their opinion end up in the jail. In our country, however, political speech is protected and any citizen can sue an other if one feels his or her opinion is suppressed.
25 Nov. 2007 http://www.eyes.org/cases/1970-1979/1973/1973_72_617/>. " New York Times Co. V. Sullivan. www.bc.edu. 25 Nov. 2007 http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/comm/free_speech/nytvsullivan.html>.
The first amendment grants the freedom of the press, speech, and religion. The first amendment also grants that the media is immune from