Jonah Patel
The First Amendment to the US Constitution protects freedom of speech from government restrictions. This means that the government cannot censor, interfere with or restrain the free and public expression of opinions. However, there are some categories of speech that are given lesser or no protection by the First Amendment, including obscenity, fraud, child pornography, and speech integral to illegal conduct.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Protected by | The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution |
| Protection from | Government restrictions |
| Categories with lesser or no protection | Obscenity, fraud, child pornography, speech integral to illegal conduct, speech that incites imminent lawless action, speech that violates intellectual property law, true threats, false statements of fact, commercial speech, defamation, criminal threat, hanging a noose, challenging another to fight, offensive words, willful disturbance of any lawful meeting |
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What You'll Learn
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
> "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 peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
The First Amendment protects the right to express opinions publicly without censorship, interference or restraint by the government. This includes the decision of what to say as well as what not to say. However, the First Amendment does not protect speech itself. The Supreme Court of the United States has recognised several categories of speech that are given lesser or no protection by the First Amendment, including obscenity, fraud, child pornography, speech integral to illegal conduct, speech that incites imminent lawless action, and true threats.
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Categories of speech with lesser or no protection
The First Amendment to the US Constitution protects freedom of speech, not speech itself. While the First Amendment prevents government restrictions on speech, it does not prevent restrictions imposed by private individuals or businesses. The Supreme Court of the United States has recognised several categories of speech that are given lesser or no protection by the First Amendment, and has acknowledged that governments may enact reasonable time, place, or manner restrictions on speech.
- Obscenity
- Fraud
- Child pornography
- Speech integral to illegal conduct
- Speech that incites imminent lawless action
- Speech that violates intellectual property law
- True threats
- False statements of fact
- Commercial speech, such as advertising
- Defamation that causes harm to reputation
- Criminal threat
- Hanging a noose on a college campus for the purpose of terrorising members of the campus community with the knowledge that it is a symbol representing a threat to life
- Challenging another to fight in a public place
- Use of offensive words in a public place which are inherently likely to provoke an immediate violent reaction
- Willful disturbance of any lawful meeting
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Freedom of speech and expression
> 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 peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
The First Amendment protects the freedom of speech, not speech itself. The Supreme Court of the United States has recognised several categories of speech that are given lesser or no protection by the First Amendment, and has recognised that governments may enact reasonable time, place, or manner restrictions on speech. These include obscenity, fraud, child pornography, speech integral to illegal conduct, speech that incites imminent lawless action, speech that violates intellectual property law, true threats, false statements of fact, and commercial speech such as advertising.
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Freedom of speech and private individuals or businesses
The First Amendment to the US Constitution protects freedom of speech from government restrictions. The First Amendment states:
> 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 peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
The First Amendment does not prevent restrictions on speech imposed by private individuals or businesses. The Supreme Court of the United States has recognised that governments may enact reasonable time, place, or manner restrictions on speech. The First Amendment does not protect certain categories of speech, including obscenity, fraud, child pornography, speech integral to illegal conduct, speech that incites imminent lawless action, and commercial speech such as advertising.
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Freedom of speech and the Supreme Court
Freedom of speech is strongly protected from government restrictions by the First Amendment to the US Constitution, many state constitutions, and state and federal laws. The First Amendment reads:
> 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 peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
The Supreme Court of the United States has recognised that the First Amendment does not protect all speech. Categories of speech that are given lesser or no protection by the First Amendment (and therefore may be restricted) include obscenity, fraud, child pornography, speech integral to illegal conduct, speech that incites imminent lawless action, speech that violates intellectual property law, true threats, false statements of fact, and commercial speech such as advertising. Defamation that causes harm to reputation is a tort and also a category which is not protected as free speech.
The Supreme Court has recognised that governments may enact reasonable time, place, or manner restrictions on speech. The university, for example, may regulate unprotected or lesser-protected speech, such as criminal threats, hanging a noose on campus for the purpose of terrorising members of the campus community, challenging another to fight in a public place, or using offensive words in a public place which are likely to provoke an immediate violent reaction.
The First Amendment's constitutional right of free speech prevents only government restrictions on speech, not restrictions imposed by private individuals or businesses.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, the First Amendment to the US Constitution protects free speech and expression from government restrictions.
Free speech means the free and public expression of opinions without censorship, interference or restraint by the government.
Yes, there are several categories of speech that are given lesser or no protection by the First Amendment, including obscenity, fraud, child pornography, and speech integral to illegal conduct.
