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by kgo
5703 days ago
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But once again, you don't need permission to exercise fundamental rights anywhere in a civilized country. If I'm on a public sidewalk, the default assumption is that I can pass out whatever pamphlets I want. That I can spew out whatever tirades I want to. Even if I'm in the KKK. Because I have a fundamental right to free expression and freedom of the press. I can do this anywhere in the US. The only time I can get into trouble is if I'm conflicting with someone else' fundamental rights. If I do this at a Walmart, they can kick me out because of their own property rights. But even then, they're not saying I can't express myself, I just can't do it on their property. I can go to the public sidewalk in front of the store and they can't do jack. I can be one of those assholes that stands on the sidewalk outside of a funeral home and say that this marine is dead because God hates gay people. And when the dad sues me, he'll lose, because I have a fundamental right to free speech. On a public road, the default assumption is that I'm forbidden from driving unless I've met several criteria first. You start with the assumption that by default I'm not allowed to drive on a public road. And I'm only granted that right (or privilege) once I've established that I'm qualified and safe and using an approved vehicle. Not a fundamental right. |
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Except that isn't really true. Try doing that on a public sidewalk in a residential neighborhood at 1AM. Your going to run into trouble. The Supreme Court has long held that certain restrictions of speech are acceptable. We're all familiar with shouting "fire" in a crowded theater, but the court has heard countless variations. Much of the courts rulings on the first amendment have clearly been in trying to establish a line between the reasonable restriction while preserving the intent of the amendment.
For instance, the supreme court has dealt with exotic dancing on a few occasions. They've held that the exotic dancing is a form of speech (expression) and therefore subject to first amendment protection. However, at the same time they've consistently allowed for limits on that expression. Including cases like Erie vs. Paps (http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/98-1161.ZO.html) in which the court held that the city of Erie could enact certain controls over nude dancing (reversing a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision).
The point being that in the United States there is no such thing as a 'universal right'. The bill of rights lays out fundamental principles, and the courts are responsible for figuring out how best to satisfy those principles in the real world.