Discuss the below:
Discussion 1:
The First Amendment is a constitutional right to freedom of speech. Individuals are entitled to an opinion and are free to express themselves. However, when reading the New York Times article, "When a T-Shirt Gets You in Trouble at the Voting Booth," it raised an eyebrow. According to Liptak (2018), the state Minnesota has a taboo on a voter's appearances. This strict dress code strike up quite a debate with the community and the voters themselves. Therefore, graphic tees displaying anything about political rights and voting is dismissing. Honestly, there are other things the First Amendment should worry focus on instead of this minor issue. The reasoning being that with voting the person should have his or her mind made up already before the day of voting. I do not think that wearing t-shirts about the leading representative that is competing or anything that justifies their rights would distract someone who knows whom to vote. If people decide to wear clothing as such; they should have a right to say that they can and will continue to wear them. Furthermore, that is another issue in the objectional because if they do wear the graphic tees, they are disciplined and is not constitutional on so many levels. Minnesota needs a set back for a better come back because this is a vague law they are committing too. When this problematic situation heads to the court next year, I hope whomever the judge thinks with their head and not with a senseless perspective like the state.
Discussion 2:
The social value of freedom of speech is determined by how it interferes with the government. Looking at the examples that were listed, freedom of speech is limited to that of causing harm, not physical, but emotional or social distress towards someone else. When it comes to freedom of speech, we must take into consideration just how far our words can go, before it becomes too much. The book states that, "To understand the meaning of freedom of the press and speech, it is necessary to understand the meaning of censorship, for viewed from a negative position freedom of expression can be simply defined as the absence of censorship or a freedom from government control." Voicing your opinion is part of freedom of speech. When someone disagrees with what you say is also a part of that. The main problem that we seem to have is that we try to voice our opinions as fact, which will garner more backlash from others. In the article, ‘Student's Facebook Tirade against Teacher is Protected by Speech,' the case with the college student is protected because it was a Facebook page set up for others to voice their opinions about a teacher that they disliked. Where as the story about the 14-year old student was not freedom of speech because they made a social media page and pretended to be someone they were not. On this page they had associated their principal as a sex offender which is a major crime. There is a difference when you voice an opinion and when you state that opinion as facts for the world to see.