... Unites States District Court for the District of Columbia, Civil Case No.11- 1482 (RJL) Facts: The plaintiffs in this case are five tobacco companies. In June2011, defendant FDA published a final rule requiring the display of nine new textual warnings along with certain graphic images such as diseased lungs and cadaver bearing chest staples on an autopsy table –on the top 50% of the front and back panels of every cigarette package manufactured and distributed in the United States on or after September 22, 2012. Both parties moved for summary of judgment on these issues. Upon review of the pleadings and oral arguments and applicable law the court declared that these mandatory graphic images violate the First Amendment by unconstitutionally compelling speech. The court granted plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment and Denies the Cross Motion for Summary Judgment. Issues: Whether Congress mandating the new images to occupy the top 50% of the front and back panels of all cigarette packages and the top 20% of printed advertising, and charging the FDA with implementing a final rule is consistent with constitutions First Amendments freedom of speech? Ruling: District Court for the District of Columbia declared that these mandatory graphic images violated the First Amendment by unconstitutionally compelling speech. Rules of Law: Supreme Court has noted that this type of compelled speech is “presumptively unconstitutional. “Rosenberger vs. Rector...
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...Educational Law and Landmark Supreme Court Cases Involving Students Tinker v. Des Moines The court case Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District of 1969, citation 393 U.S. 503 (1969), was heard by the Warren Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The case involved three students in Des Moines who held a meeting and decided to wear black arm bands to school in order to show support for the truce in the Vietnam War. The three students were John Tinker, Mary Beth Tinker, and Christopher Eckhardt. They met at Christopher Eckardt’s house, who was 16-years-old at the time, and made plans to wear the arm bands during the holiday season and intended to end the protest on New Year’s Day. An administrator had heard of the students plan before it happened and believed it would cause a disruption to the school. The administrator banned the arm bands that displayed support of the Vietnam War. Students were asked to remove the arm bands and if they did not, they would face suspension. In spite of the threat, the three students wore the arm bands to school anyways and refused to remove them. The students were suspended from school until the end of their protest. The parents of...
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...Supreme Court cases that highlighted hate speech and how they were used by the plaintiff/defendant. The most well-known court case was National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie in 1979. The Supreme Court ruled that the use of swastikas were a symbolic form of free speech and they were not "fighting words." It established that any controversial organizations were granted protected under the First Amendment to do anything as long it did not violate it. And it did not just crushed those organizations’ rights to be vocal of their opinions and expression it in the form of protesting and hosting speeches in the public. The next Supreme Court case addressed laws that limited someone’s freedom of expression and speech....
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...The Texas Supreme Court has upheld the state's "pole tax," levying a $5 per customer fee that must be paid by strip club owners who serve alcohol at their locations. The constitutional law issue litigated in this case is the club's free-speech right, guaranteed in the 1st amendment of the United States Constitution stating, "Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech" of the people. The case was heard under the Texas Supreme court who overturned the ruling by the Texas Third Court of Appeals, that the "pole tax" was unconstitutional. The Texas Supreme Court overturned the original ruling to say that the pole-tax did not violate the clubs' free speech rights because the tax is a "minimal restriction," meant to suppress the secondary...
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...Gitlow v. New York Gitlow v. New York was the first critical First Amendment case for the United State Supreme Court. In the ruling of Gitlow v. New York, the first and fourteenth amendment solidified the rights of the American people and applied state governments to the same extent as the federal government in regulating free speech. Benjamin Gitlow Benjamin Gitlow, a member of the Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party, published a communist manifesto, “The Left Wing Manifesto” in 1919 for distribution in the United States. The manifesto suggested overthrowing the United States government in a violent way. New York officers charged Benjamin with criminal anarchy under New York’s state law. The government saw the manifestos as a threat...
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...United States is the case of Tinker vs. Des Moines. The case decides the issues of symbolic speech and its limits. It displays the right of individuals, including children wherever they are, even school. In this case we see the limits of the first amendment and how far this right extends. What happened in this case? One day in 1969 brother and sister John and Mary Beth Tinker wore black armbands to school in protest over the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War. The school issued a new policy stating that those who wore armbands would be asked to remove it right away. If that student failed to remove his armband, he would be suspended until agreeing to return to school without the armband. The Tinker children and their friend wore the armbands to school and were suspended because they did not remove their armbands. On January 1, 1966, their scheduled day for the end of their protest, the children returned to school. Their fathers filed suit to United States District Court. The U.S. District Court recognized their right to free speech but did not issue an injunction because the school’s actions were reasonable because of possible disruptions from the students’ protests. The fathers appealed to the Court of Appeals which ended with a...
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...first amendment what do you think? Is it freedom of speech? Freedom of religion? Freedom of press, assembly and petition? Do do you think of the millions abusing this amendment day by day? Or actually trying to persuade, inform, entertain and amuse your audience? On April 26, 1983, Matthew Fraser, a high school senior at Bethel High school, gave a speech nominating classmate Jeff Kuhlman for his schools class vice president. The speech was filled with sexual innuendoes prompting disciplinary action from the administration. All though Matthew Fraser thought he was simply helping a friend out, There was much wrong with his profound speech. Does the 1st amendment prevent a school district from disciplining a high school student for giving a lewd speech at an assembly? According to ABC-CLIO When taken to court, the court upheld the school district by a 7-2 margin that officials acted within constitution. With that, Fraser was suspended for three days and his name was removed from the ballet to be selected as one of three to give a speech at graduation. Even though Fraser and family thought it was unfair, Chief Justice Burger delivered the opinion of the court and proved that he had in fact violated and abused the first amendment. While Fraser was giving his speech, school councilor observed the gestures and reactions the many peers of Fraser’s who attended. Some were hooting and cheering on his obscene speech, while many others were very uncomfortable and in...
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...The “Quad-Fecta” of Student Speech The First Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees the freedom of speech to any person in the United States. Since the mid 20th century, there has been controversy about freedom of speech, especially in the school setting. These controversies led to four very important cases that have paved the way for the freedom of speech that is or is not allowed in school today. These four cases are Tinker v. Des Moines, Bethel v. Fraser, Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier, and Morse v. Frederick. Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District was the first case of freedom of speech for students. This case took place in 1969 in Des Moines, Iowa. John F. Tinker and his siblings and friends decided to wear black armbands to school in order to protest the Vietnam War. The principals and other parents and students were not fond of this gesture because they thought it was disrespectful to the people who were serving in the war. The principals of the school heard about this before it occurred and decided to make a policy that stated that any student that wore these black armbands would face consequences. These consequences included taking off the armband and being suspended until the student agreed to not wear the armband anymore. The children wore the armbands to school and were suspended. The Tinker family decided to take this to court. This case went all the way to the Supreme Court where they ruled in the favor of Tinker. The...
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...| Free Speech | And Society | | Ariel Kincaid | 11/1/2012 | Hum 176 Media and American Culture | The freedoms that the United States prides itself on came at a cost, and it continues to require a sacrifice from those members of the military and their families to protect the country. A controversy regarding the freedom of speech that has been covered recently by the media is the protests that the Westboro Baptist Church performs outside of military funerals. According to Fama (2012), “The church links the deaths of service members to America’s acceptance of gays and has a webpage full of press releases highlighting the picketing schedule of military service member funerals” (para. 11). This church group is considered a hate group by most people and highly controversial because they shout very cruel things to the families of soldiers that are being buried. This is a very touchy issue because the families of soldiers that gave their life in protecting their country are dealing with their grief as they bury their family member and are being bombarded with members of this church using their freedom of speech. The father of one of the soldiers whose funeral was protested sued the church’s Reverend and other members, but the ruling in his favor was later overturned by the state appeals court, and he was expected to pay the court costs for the church. Others helped him to raise the money necessary to pay these court costs. Then in 2011, “[the]...
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...school-sponsored speech. To determine whether or not an activity is school-sponsored the following factors are assessed: whether or not the class was part of the school’s curriculum, whether or not the student receives a grade on the assignment, and who has the final say over the classroom material. Hazelwood Sch. Dist., 484 U.S. 260, 268 (1988). This Court stated in Peck v. Baldwinsville Central Sch. Dist., that a poster, which was created as part of a classroom assignment was part of the school’s curriculum. 426 F.3d 617, 621 (2nd Cir. 2005). Peck was a kindergarten student who drew a religious picture in response to a class assignment. This Court held that since it satisfied a class requirement it satisfied the Hazelwood factor test as being school-sponsored. Id. at 629....
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...Hi The articles "Freedom of Speech: Missouri Knights of the Ku Klux Klan v. Kansas City" and "Freedom of Religion: Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Association" both engage in conflicts pertaining to the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights. "Freedom of Speech: Missouri Knights of the Ku Klux Klan v. Kansas City" is an article about the KKK's attempt to spread their beliefs through a public access cable television channel. Dennis Mahon and Allan Moran, both of the KKK, asked to be broadcasted on air in 1987, and the whole situation led to a major problem. The KKK is known for its killings, prejudice, and cross burnings, and they wanted to be shown on television to further spread their message. The First Amendment states the right to the freedom of speech, but many of the community members had a problem with the whole situation. People with race relations, local leaders, and members of the cable company did not want to grant the KKK the right to appear on air. Black ministers and important politicians were not happy with the KKK's request to voice their opinions. The KKK complied with all of the rules that were presented by the cable company, even when they were told to create a locally produced show and receive training in video production. They happily obeyed the regulations and didn't cause additional problems to what they were soon to face. The cable company studio was located in a neighborhood that was 95% black, and violence was a major concern for the cable...
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...Went For It, Inc exemplifies a case where the Supreme Court decided that individuals deserve to have the right to privacy. 1 The Supreme Court took notice of the First Amendment implications to limitations of personal injury lawyers from sending targeted direct-mail solicitations to victims and their relatives for 30 days following an accident or disaster. 2 The Court established used a the Central Hudson test, which was a four –part test, which engages in “intermediate” scrutiny of restrictions in commercial speech, analyzing them under the framework set forth in Central Hudson Gas and Electric Corp v. Public Service Commission of N.Y. The test, predicated on a making sure that three prongs are being proven: first the government must assert a substantial interest in support of its...
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...year 1985 as deputy president in charge of Washington operations after having served as an assistant secretary of defense from the year 1981 to 1985. In this capacity, as the head of Raytheon Washington, Korb was accountable for congressional relations and in direct contact with the government departments especially department of Defense. Korb then brought a lawsuit against Raytheon Corporation that his employment contract was terminated wrongfully based on the evidence produced in court that he wrongly exercised his right of speech; however he claimed that his right of speech was protected by the first amendment to the United States constitution as well as article XVI of Massachusetts declaration of rights. Therefore in regard to his complaints of the Raytheon corporation, together with the ruling court, this paper will analyze and evaluate each case by providing , facts about each case, critical issues and the final ruling, besides an analysis and explanation of the challenges with freedom of speech, freedom of information, challenges with employment law; a discussion of the public perceptions of Raytheon and its influence with the Department of Defense and a discussion of any fraud or misrepresentation on either side of the case. According to the facts of the case Korb v. Raytheon, 707 F. Supp. 63 (D. Mass. 1989), Korb became part of the executive board of Raytheon in December 1985. In February 25 1986, during Korb lunch hour, the company released its annual defense budget...
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...Coleman | Constitutional Law | Prof. James Kent | December 13, 2013 Jerry Coleman | Constitutional Law | Prof. James Kent | December 13, 2013 SHORT TITLE: FREEDOM OF SPEECH Freedom of Speech FIRST AMENDMENT PROTECTIONS Unit 2 Assignment Jerry Coleman LS305 Constitutional Law Prof. Judge J. Kent Kaplan University January 10, 2014 FREEDOM OF SPEECH FIRST AMENDMENT PROTECTIONS BY JERRY COLEMAN JANUARY 10, 2014 INDEX 1. COVER PAGE 2. TITLE PAGE 3. INDEX 4. PURPOSE 5. THEORY 6. FREEDOM OF SPEECH: UNALIENABLE RIGHT? 7. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE 8. CASE LAW 9. CURRENT LEGISLATION AND ITS EFFECT ON THE FIRST AMENDMENT 10. CONCLUSION’ 11. REFERENCES PURPOSE The purpose of this paper is to examine, limitedly, the incursion, by Congressional Acts, Judicial Interpretation via case law, and Executive Order of the First Amendment Protections of Free Speech of The Constitution of The United States. THEORY The Bill of Rights are the Foundation of the UNALIENABLE RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE, in theory and original intent of the Framers, which neither the Federal Government nor the States may repose from the People. Neither shall the Judiciary. However, given to logical consideration, as applied by the Marshall Court, the Courts have Judicial Review Authority, rendering them, if not the best locale, definitely the most appropriate, for interpretation of the Rights thusly enumerated in The Constitution’s Bill...
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...invited approximately one hundred people to join her group, “S.A.S.H.,” consisting mostly of Musselman High School students. The school administrators concluded that Kowalski had indeed created the “hate website.” She had violated the school’s policy against “harassment, bullying, and intimidation.” Her punishment was suspension for ten days and was issued a ninety day “social suspension.” This prevented her from attending any extracurricular activity within those ninety days. However, in the end the Assistant Superintendent Rick Deuell reduced her out-of-school suspension to five days, while the ninety day “social suspension” remained the same. Kowalski argued that her rights were violated to include the First Amendment freedom of speech; the Fourth Amendment, due process; the Eighth Amendment, cruel and unusual punishment; and lastly the Fourteenth Amendment, equal protection. Kowalski stated she created the MySpace discussion group “S.A.S.H.” “off-campus and used...
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