This is an interesting essay about what happened in a freshman seminar on Freedom of Speech.
I think it is a good reminder of why freedom of speech makes this country so great. It also briefly talks about the nuances of free speech vs harassment, defamation and threats.
I got a reminder when I was sure a politician overstepped his bounds but went on to be schooled that he had not. I would like to sit in on this seminar.
One of the great public services our universities carry out is reminding students of the reasons we have such freedoms. We need them to perform that service now, more than ever. Glad to see some have met the challenge.
Thank you so much for sharing this. I’m going to copy it into word, print it, and share it with my kids. I agree, I’d love to sit in on this seminar. Geez, the faculty mentioned in the first paragraph are world class experts on this topic. This is the kind of seminar one might not see at lessor schools too.
In any event, I want to add something that I don’t think the article mentioned. The recent Gawker case vs Hulk Hogan was an example of a free speech case. Gawker published a sex tape of HH becoming extremely friendly with a friend’s wife. As in, they really know each other well now. I should say they are intimately acquainted at this point. Okay, you get the point, anyway HH sued claimed they had defamed him or something or another. Gawker said he was a celebrity and it was free speech. HH won. The case is now on appeal.
What is interesting is that it puts a limit on what the media can report and get away with legally. Gawker claimed the sex tape had some sort of public interest because HH bragged about his sex life or something. The courts disagreed and said Gawker can’t just publish stuff like that. Also, probably even more interesting, this issue has come up recently:
Should a candidate for president be able to sue a reporter or website or newspaper if they publish something that the candidate deems is false? If they could that would SERIOUSLY diminish freedom of the press and free speech which, as far as I can tell, would be an unmitigated disaster and allow people running for public office to effectively shield themselves from all kinds of things and scare the press into being even more meek and ineffective than it already is.