1. First Amendment“Congress shall make no law abridging freedom of speech or the press”interpreted by the Supreme Court

2. 5 most important theories: Absolutist, Ad Hoc balancin,gPreferred position balancing theoryMeiklejohn theoryAccess theory

3. Three topics are important when discussing the First Amendment The power of the state to limit criticism or other verbal or published attacks on the government, the power of the state to use taxation to censor the press, the power of the government to forbid the publication of ideas or info it believes to be harmful.

4. Examples – power of state to limit speech 1798 Alien & Sedition Acts three laws that pertained to foreign citizens, and a sedition law which outlawed false, scandalous and malicious publications against the U.S. government Espionage Act of 1917- 2 federal laws to deal with persons who opposed US participation in the war. The law said it was a crime to willfully convey a false report with the intent to interfere in the war effort

5. Examples: power of state to limit speech The 1918 Act said it was a crime to attempt to obstruct recruiting. iT was criminal to utter,print,write or publish disloyal or profane language to cause contempt or scorn for the government, constitution, flag or armed forces. 1940 the Smith Act said it was a crime to advocate violent overthrow of the government, or organize a group with that purpose, or be a member of a group with those intentions

6. Examples –power of state to limit speech Holmes test If the words or actions posed a clear and present danger and be harmful to the nation then those words could be outlawed. Clear = unmistakable. Present = immediate Justice Louis Brandeis clarified ‘ danger’ .Brandeis - if there is time to discuss more speech should be encouraged not silenced

7. Important First Amendment cases:2001 -charges against Warner Bros and Oliver Stone that a robbery and shooting at a convenience store were the result of thieves trying to mimic scenes they viewed as part of the movie Natural Born Killers

8. First Amendment cases 1996 - families of Trevor and Mildred Horn and Janice Saunders v. Palladin publishers Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors.

9. First Amendment Cases 1996 - Planned Parenthood v American Coalition for Life - web postings by anti-abortion activists that branded doctors who performed abortions as baby butchers.

10. First amendment:Debate over freedom of expression: prior restraint Prior restraint occurs when the government either insists on giving prior approval before broadcast or publication, or bans publication of the material

11. Nearv. Minnesota city council members brought a suit against a publication in a small community A lower court declared the newspaper a public nuisance and further issues could not be published unless it intended to print material that would not be objectionable.

12. 1971 Pentagon Papers The New York Times began publishing a series of articles about a government study that was leaked called ‘the History of the US decision making process on the Vietnam Policy’ After the first article appeared, the Attorney general asked the NY Times to stop and got a temporary restraining order

13. Prior restraint during wartime Most prior restraint cases are unconstitutional, but prior restraint during wartime is treated differently by the courts if the censorship may protect national security

14. In fact censorship during wartime is not uncommon: WWII Vietnam War Grenada Panama Persian Gulf War Balkans

15. censorship during wartime is not uncommon Afghanistan Iraq