There are a few words that are not allowed to be said or written in America and the leading one is “N”. “N” stands for “N—–” but the Constitution expressly allows “N—–”  wherin it was written: “Congress shall make no law ……. abridging the freedom of speech”.. That’s in the Constitution.. It’s in the First Amendment. So shouting “N—–” is constitutionally allowed as is yelling FIRE! when there’s nothing burning. But!… It is not advisable to say certain things not because the courts have a contradictory opinion but because things can have consequences and one may not like those consequences. 

There are also “Fighting Words” which are words that are considered words that indicate a willingness to fight or challenge someone or that are likely to cause confrontation. The U.S. Supreme Court unconstitutionally and wrongly wrote in its decision that:

“There are certain well-defined and narrowly limited classes of speech, the prevention and punishment of which have never been thought to raise any Constitutional problem. These include the lewd and obscene, the profane, the libelous, and the insulting or “fighting” words – those which by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace. It has been well observed that such utterances are no essential part of any exposition of ideas, and are of such slight social value as a step to truth that any benefit that may be derived from them is clearly outweighed by the social interest in order and morality.”

— Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, 1942[1]

Yeah… but guess what? The Supreme Court should have read the Constitution where such things are not subject to restrictions.

All this goes to show that the Constitution should be consulted before the courts write their ideas which are only called “Opinions”. Opinions are literally not law because laws have to be approved by congress and the president.

In the case of yelling FIRE! when nothing is burning the courts should have said and written that there are consequences for yelling FIRE! when nothing is burning and those consequences may not be able to be protected under the free speech clause because of an adverse reaction by someone. That’s the reality and hopefully someday someone will wise up and realize the truth of the ides of free speech and the absolute clarity of the words of the Constitution which protect them.

Views: 4