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by bradknowles 1742 days ago
Your freedom of speech does not extend to yelling “FIRE!!!” in a crowded theater.

Your freedom of speech does not extend to inciting a riot.

There are obvious limits to “free speech”.

1 comments

Actually, it does extend to yelling "fire!" in a crowded theater. That is entirely legal, at least in the United States.
No, it doesn't. Went to the Supreme Court, and that is not free speech. "the phrase "shouting fire in a crowded theater" has become synonymous with speech that, because of its danger of provoking violence, is not protected by the First Amendment."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shouting_fire_in_a_crowded_the...

> Went to the Supreme Court, and that is not free speech.

No, it didn't go to the Supreme Court.

> "the phrase "shouting fire in a crowded theater" has become synonymous with speech that, because of its danger of provoking violence, is not protected by the First Amendment."

While the phrase may be used that way, its referencing nonbinding dicta (expressions in a ruling that are not germane to the decision rule for the case actually before the court) that does not reflect preexisting law from a case that has since been almost entirely overruled and is widely recognized as being an aberration that (in its actual binding holding) allowed extensive government regulation of core protected political speech.

It reflects neither the law before the decision, the binding case law created by the decision, nor the state of the law after the decision was rejected.