Freedom of Speech and Federalism Essay Topics

Freedom of Speech and Federalism Essay TopicsA number of college courses dealing with issues of freedom of speech and federalism have been banned or restricted by the colleges. In fact, not a single one of the fundamental rights and freedoms that we have been taught to believe in has been taught in these colleges. Although it is true that there is a limited freedom of speech, the various voices that were barred from such freedom of speech were completely silenced.It is only within the last few years that there has been a growing movement to curb certain speech. This unfortunate turn of events can be seen in several cases when the freedom of speech is said to be limited and that a particular institution has banned speech. There are two broad theories that are used to justify such bans, and they are 'First Amendment principles'Second Amendment principles'. The first and the second are completely opposite, and that is why one theory is not applicable.The first theory is supported by the Supreme Court and the conservatives, who say that the freedom of speech is merely a limited one and that the government has the right to restrict some forms of speech. Therefore, the philosophy behind such argument is that we should not ban any form of speech because some of them are harmful to society. However, this limited theory does not hold water since the history of the United States has shown that it is not just the words that make a person or country great, but the concept of freedom and the right to speak up is what made the United States great.The second theory is supported by liberals who say that certain speech should be censored because certain forms of speech are considered harmful to the society. As a result, some citizens are not allowed to use certain words, and the free speech will be restricted.There has been a long tradition of free speech, and there is no way for the liberals to argue otherwise. We've been taught the history of the United States and of the Brit ish empire. For them, no amount of censoring and banning will stop speech that is detrimental to society.Their argument is rather radical, because there is no law that says a country cannot control speech. The fact that they want to control speech and to ban certain forms of speech are contradictory to everything that the United States has been fighting for and its founders fought for.A more recent ban on free speech has come about in the form of protestors who are disrupting a commencement speech given by Dr. William Darity III. While the first amendment states that freedom of speech is not to be curtailed, the fact that a student group disrupted the speech was taken to mean that freedom of speech has to be curtailed. Therefore, according to the university, it is not free speech when a student group breaks the law by disrupting a speaker's speech.The protesters wanted to support an ethnic minority group known as the Nation of Islam, which had been at the center of some controversy. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People had gone to the court to get an injunction against the use of the word 'nigga' during the event. The court declined, and the protesters were ultimately ejected from the venue.