Here are three reasons why freedom of speech is important. Freedom of speech promotes the exchange of ideas, helps expose immoral or unlawful activities, and creates resiliency in society. When someone has an idea, they should be able to freely promote and exchange that idea without the burden of receiving persecution or suppression. Imagine being a woman and not being able to vote or the effect of segregation in the community during the 1920’s era. Free speech grants people the freedom of expression to help others be exposed to new ideas and bring changes to society.
Freedom of speech can also uncover immoral or unlawful activities such as the Jim Crow laws. Important figures like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. would not be very effective without the ability to freely speak their mind about the conditions of blacks during the Civil Rights Movement. Sometimes an idea may seem too radical and hard to accept but having this right in society allows them to at least have that conversation. As a country, Americans have come to embrace that openness equals making progress as they grasp the idea of individualism. While a person may not agree with every idea that someone else proposes, they should be able to tolerate and respect those rights.
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On the flip side, there are some drawbacks to the freedom of speech especially when it is used to spread hate, provide false information, and divide society. While the language of the First Amendment appears absolute, freedom of speech is not an absolute right. Certain limitations and restrictions do apply. Freedom of speech is not encouraged when it is used to incite violence or to spread hate. Recent news of the BLM movement utilizing free speech to incite violence against police officers and tagging monuments with spray paint is one of the examples. These actions have tarnished the good intentions that the Bill of Rights was meant to protect. Freedom of speech has also been abused to provide false information such as personal service in the military. In the case of United States v. Alvarez (2012), Xavier Alvarez falsely claimed that he won the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1987. Even though it is frowned upon to fabricate claims about one’s achievement in the military, the US Supreme Court ruled that his action is protected under the First Amendment. Lastly, when people are allowed to express their opinions freely, they tend to hang out in closed circles with others who are like-minded. This in turn will create a polarized society where they are more likely to pass on prejudice and stereotypes to another group.
One of the monumental laws that Americans have to abide by is the 4th Amendment, which protects citizens from state government against unreasonable searches. As stated in the Bill of Rights, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.” The argument is that the 4th Amendment protects the privacy of American citizens, ensures that their property is secure from seizure, and keeps the government from making unfair or unwarranted arrests. Just as a person who has a right to keep their matters private under the safety of his/her house, without a reasonable cause and a warrant, police officers may not enter or risk violating the law. In a landmark case of United States v. Weeks (1914), police officers went to the house of Mr. Fremont Weeks and entered his home without a warrant. They searched his room and seized his personal belongings without proper cause. Later, the police arrested him for using the US postal service to distribute lottery tickets since his act was considered illegal gambling in Missouri.
After hearing his case, the US Supreme Court reversed his sentence and ruled in favor of him. Their verdict was that because all the evidence was obtained illegally that is a violation under the 4th Amendment since there was no warrant for the searches and seizures that led to his arrest in this case. Conversely, the 4th Amendment has its drawbacks by hindering police activities and investigations. It also makes gathering evidence difficult and it is prone to abuse by the criminals. Rufus Mincey was convicted of murder, assault, and drug offenses when he shot an undercover police officer during a drug raid in the state of Arizona. When he appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court, the court reversed the murder and assault convictions because the officers did not obtain a warrant during the extensive four-day search of Mincey’s apartment. During the four-day search, the officers went through the entire apartment and found two to three hundred pieces of evidence. In addition, while he was hospitalized, detectives continued to question Mincey for four hours even after he requested a lawyer. Because the warrantless four-day search violates the 4th Amendment and the hospital statements were not voluntary, Mincey’s murder charges were dropped. In another case, United States v. Jay Michaud, the FBI dropped all charges against Michaud even though the evidence was pretty apparent. The FBI used spyware to locate Michaud with his IP address when he was participating in a child pornography website from the dark web. Questions were raised about the technique that was used in the process of gathering information and whether or not cyber criminals can be lawfully hacked. The FBI decided to let Michaud go free because revealing the process would jeopardy future investigations using such spyware. It is a hard decision whether the 4th Amendment harms or protects American citizens. As a society, do we let a pedophile go because of his privacy rights or do we follow our morals and risk violating what America stands for?
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