Should Racist Speech Have Protection under the First Amendment
Should Racist Speech Have Protection under the First Amendment? ... Because of the complex nature of racism and racist acts, teamed with the fact the first amendment prohibits the government from limiting the publics right to free speech, the Federal government has been ineffective in eliminating racist actions that still stand in our society. ... Central Michigan University, for example, had instituted a discriminatory harassment policy, only to have it shot down by the Supreme Court in 1995 on grounds that the policy, necessarily requires the university to review racial or ethnic content of speech." Since Central Michigan University is a State school, the First Amendment prohibits it from enacting regulations that would limit an individuals right to free speech unless the regulations, according to a 1986 ruling by the Supreme Court, are "narrowly and precisely designed." As you can imagine, precisely tailoring any statute in order to prohibit racist speech is nearly impossible - and as many other speakers have already said, banning the current racial slurs will only create new ones. Additionally, an outright ban on racist speech and ideas could likely lead to a higher level of violence in our society. A number of other supreme court rulings have come out in favor of protecting all speech, including racist speech, such as: A 1941 ruling on the case of Sullens v State, stating that the "Freedom of speech includes freedom to speak unwisely even heresy. ... v Wilson, stating that: "[The] First Amendment prohibits [the] state from banning communication of ideas deemed by some to be blasphemous or sacrilegious.