“Even with the Constitution's free speech protections, there are times when, legally, we have to keep our big mouths shut.
“There are basically four types of speech that the First Amendment doesn't protect: obscenity, incitement to illegal action, defamation, and fighting words.
“Limit #1: Obscenity
“The Constitution doesn't give you the right to be obscene . . .
“Limit #2: Incitement to Illegal Action
“In 1919, the Court held that "the most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic." . . . the First Amendment doesn't protect speech that creates a "clear and present danger" of "substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent."
“Limit #3: Defamation
“You also aren't free to go around damaging other people's reputations by lying about them . . . Slander is spoken defamation. Libel is written (or otherwise recorded) defamation.
“Limit #4: Fighting Words
“Suppose someone cuts in front of you in line. If the colorful language you then direct toward that person is so abusive and insulting that fisticuffs are likely to follow, you can't take refuge behind the First Amendment. Fighting words--"those which by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace"--aren't protected.”
---Excerpt from “ What Free Speech Isn’t” by Jerry Vail, Knowledge News
Tags: Constitution Free Speech
