Freedom of Speech as Protected by the States: A Review of Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century State Court Decisions.

Autor/in	Herbeck, Dale A.
Titel	Freedom of Speech as Protected by the States: A Review of Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century State Court Decisions.
Quelle	(1989), (20 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Civil Liberties; Constitutional History; Constitutional Law; Court Judges; Court Litigation; Freedom of Speech; Libel and Slander; United States History + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Verfassungsgeschichte; Staatsrecht; Richter; Rechtsstreit; Redefreiheit; Diffamierung
Abstract	While some analysts have asserted that the First Amendment was intended to prohibit laws against seditious libel (speech overtly critical of the government), the judicial record reveals a willingness to tolerate some onerous infringements on free expression. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, 25 states passed "sedition" or "criminal syndicalism" laws, which criminalized anti-government expression. Local ordinances designed to protect public health and safety were also employed in the suppression of speech. Not until the 1925 case of Gitlow v. New York was the First Amendment applied to the states via the Fourteenth Amendment. During this period, state courts also resisted free speech challenges to the sedition laws, as state constitutions offered even less protection for speech than did the First Amendment. Judicial participation in speech suppression challenges the traditional view of the Supreme Court as protector of rights. Today, the First Amendment must be construed in light of present conditions. While the past cannot be ignored, there is a difference between mindless adherence to the ways of the past and appreciation for continuity, stability, and tradition. (Sixty-one footnotes are included.) (SG)
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC