Free Speech: How Far is Too Far

The First Amendment, most people feel is one of or the most important part of the consitution. It stands for what democracy really stands for. And to take that away would be to deny us our human rights. Or does it?

What if this part of our democracy is denying others their rights?

France and Israel have come to an agreement that free speech is very important to society, too much free speech can also be the exact opposite. In response to this revelation they have put limits on the use of certain types of speech, even banning or fining anyone who uses it. In France, Dieudonne M'Bala M'Bala has been banned from playing in two cities and has been fined repeatedly for hate speech; being charged with intent to disrupt public order. The French have even made the encouragement racial discrimination a crime.

Israel has taken action against free speech by banning the word Nazi, unless used in an education context. Using this word, or even referring to the Third Reich with intention of hurting another person, can land a person jail for several months, along with some hefty fines. Israel did not stop there though, they have also made it illegal to deny the Holocaust. 

France and Israel are not alone in their efforts to control the harm done on society due to unbecoming speech. Six other European countries have also put restrictions in place.

This leaves America on it's own.

Coming back to America, this may seem excessive, even undemocratic. Federal court has held up the free speech law in a big way. In 1977 they upheld the rights of Neo-Nazi's to march right through a town in Illinois whose residents were survivors of Hitler's regime. Even when West-boro Church decided to picket outside the funeral of a gay soldier with signs that says "God Hates Fags" there was no repercussions. Though America seems to unlimited free speech there are some limits, for example slander, defamation, obscenity and the incitement of imminent lawlessness. This is a small portion of the hateful words that are hurting people everyday.

When is it too far?

"Recent studies in universities such as Purdue, UCLA, Michigan, Toronto, Arizona, Maryland, and Macquarie University in New South Wales, show, among other things, through brain scans and controlled studies with participants who were subjected to both physical and emotional pain, that emotional harm is equal in intensity to that experienced by the body, and is even more long-lasting and traumatic. Physical pain subsides; emotional pain, when recalled, is relived,"  reports the daily beast.

Physical wounds may last a long time, it's the psychological wounds that last a lifetime, and like physical harm, emotional distress can make the body sick. Even when these emotions are brought back, the person will relive the incident over and over again. This causes mental trauma, not just for the one person it may be directed too, but to everyone that can relate.

There, of course, is nothing wrong with trying to express your ideas in public, but this can be done without shouting obscenities at a gay soldiers funereal, or burning a cross in an African American neighborhood. 

"Free speech should not stand in the way of common decency. No right should be so freely and recklessly exercised that it becomes an impediment to civil society, making it so that others are made to feel less free, their private space and peace invaded, their sensitivities cruelly trampled upon."