The U.S. Constitution is easily one of the most important legal documents ever written, governing the most powerful nation in the history of the world. No laws or regulations can ever trump this document. The Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, are supposed to protect citizens’ rights from government tyranny.
Or does it?
The First Amendment does not protect a citizen’s free speech if what they say or write qualifies as blackmail, defamation, libel, slander or obscenity. That begs the question: Why are citizens, specifically students, being punished and censored for speaking their minds on various matters when they fall under none of these categories?
In 2011, the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange denied a group of student protesters an open records request. They asked for things such as donor records and information about their training programs.
Instead of giving them the information, former state Attorney General Sam Olens suggested to WSB-TV that these students’ request could aid terrorists, an absurd notion that all but silenced student voices regarding the organization until earlier this year.
It got to the point that this same state attorney general even pushed for an amendment to the Georgia Open Records Act, which made it harder for people to access the information they need and made it easier for government agencies and public institutions to reject requests. This has only added to the confusion over the freeness of free speech and the government’s role in regulating it.
Indeed, an aura of confusion over free speech leads to much confusion between people. This could be based on ethics, morals or religion. There are people who take advantage of their right to free speech to incite violence and encourage hate, and these are the people who create concern.
For example: the extremist Christians who stand in the designated free speech zones at Georgia State and tell students who pass by that they’re going to hell for their religious background or sexual orientation encourage hate that could lead to violence.
It’s understandable that there’s some concern surrounding what people are saying and how others will react. But, it is completely baffling that there is an amendment to the Constitution, presumably the highest law in the land, that guarantees free speech for all. For many, their speech is anything but free.
All across the world, we see students, racial and ethnic minorities and political dissidents fighting for what they believe in getting unlawfully silenced by their own governments, many of which have provisions similar to the First Amendment in their own constitutions. It is one of the most basic human rights to be able to speak our minds. Of course, there are negotiated limits, but when what people say is within certain allowed parameters and people still get shut down, that is when things start to become a problem.
Silencing people who speak out against others is nothing new, but that has never mean it’s right, not then and certainly not now. Being able to express ourselves in every way possible should not be stifled by someone’s feelings.
