Thursday, September 18, 2014

The First Amendment declares, “Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech.” The Court has never taken “no law” literally. Court allows limits on use of fighting words, hate words, symbolic speech, and limits imposed by time, place, and manner regulations. (Gateways to Democracy- John Greer, etc. pg# 108)

 I feel freedom of speech is very important. If we didn't have freedom of speech how would we be able to express our beliefs or dislikes toward a matter say as an example “For War or Against War.” As well as yes freedom of speech goes way to far sometimes like you can’t go in a church raising heck for your benefit. For one it is the wrong time and wrong place, and second it would be against freedom of religion as well. I choose this as an example to get my point across. I would hope everyone would respect church, but as we all know not everyone does. The areas of speech that shouldn't be protected are hate crimes, fighting words, racial slurs to groups of people or threatening words.

   Yes, I believe there should be separation of church and state. Here is a question I read in book it made me understand better. If you have a short prayer before graduation then turn around and say the football games can’t have a prayer! Who is to say if someone wants to pray they can’t as well if someone doesn’t want to pray they shouldn't have to. I personally believe prayer should be a person’s individual choice. You can pray silently just as well as put ear plugs in if you didn't want to hear it.

Criminal procedure: defendant rights are crucial in getting a fair trial. The police can’t just say you did something they have to prove it without a reasonable doubt.
Yes, to many freedoms are given sometimes. I believe if you commit a crime and are being punished you should not be treated like a king or queen. Prisoners have phones, some get a better education than we do.



6 comments:

  1. I agree with your points about the rights of defendants, because otherwise we would have a criminal system similar to the chaos of the French Revolution or the Salem Witch Trials. The rights have to be protected to keep the system in check.

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  2. I absolutely agree with everything you said Donna. We should always be able to say what we want but also use common courtesy and be respectful like you said to not go into a church yelling. People should be allowed to pray or not to whoever they believe in. Also defendants should have rights because many have been wrongfully accused of crimes.

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  3. I agree that freedom of speech is very important and your beliefs on the subject. I too believe there should be a separation of church and state; I don’t think they should be combined. I agree that defendants right are crucial, they are entitled to a fair trial and the same rights as everyone else.

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  4. I couldn't agree more with you. Our freedom of speech makes sure we can voice our opinions on matters. If this wasn't the case, the government would become unresponsive to what the people want. I also agree with your assessment of separation of church and state. I couldn't agree more with you that some prisoners are treated way too well.

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  5. i commited on Taylor Wilson, Katelyn Dozier, and Dylan Thevenard blogs

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  6. I agree certain comments should be censored like racial slurs, hate crimes, and to people and/or groups. People may not agree with the way somebody lives or the way you live. I wouldn't ever make a comment about someone's appearance or something mainly because that's just the way I was raised. Maybe someone with less social grace would say something offensive to someone they have never met maybe because they were just raised like that.

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