First Amendment Legal Precedents Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

First Amendment Legal Precedents - Essay Example Here, Las Vegas is attempting to assert that a public street is a private place and the notion flies in the face of the first amendment. If the city of Las Vegas regulates the content of the expression, there must be a compelling state interest and must be narrowly written to achieve that interest. Perry Education Ass'n v. Perry Local Educators' Ass'n, 460 U.S. 37 (1983). Restrictions on speech in a public forum will likely also be upheld if the expressive activity being regulated is a type that is not entitled to full First Amendment protection, such as obscenity. Laws that regulate the time, manner, and place, but not content, of speech in a public forum receive less scrutiny by the Court than do laws that restrict the content of expression. It is not necessary that a content-neutral law be the least restrictive alternative, but only that the government's interest would be achieved less effectively without it. Ward v. Rock against Racism, 491 U.S. 781, (1989). A distinction is drawn between public premises that serve as traditional public forums and those that constitute limited public forums. For example, state fairgrounds are public premises that have not traditionally served as public forums. The government is allowed to impose more restrictions on free speech in limited public forums than in traditional public forums. In Heffron v. ... Here there is nothing to indicate that the grounds are private and as such the protest should be allowed subject to any limitations set forth by Heffron v. International Society for Krishna Consciousness. 2. 10 points - Harvey Case- information attached Do you think Judge Ross's ruling that William Harvey's arrest was a legitimate exercise of government power was a sound legal decision Or do you agree with the New York Civil Liberties Union's director that the ruling violated Harvey's First Amendment rights Explain your answer citing the legal rules that apply to free speech and explaining how you believe they apply to the particular facts surrounding William Harvey's arrest. One of the freedoms that we as Americans enjoy is the freedom of speech and with any freedom, comes the drawbacks. Setting aside the sickening notion that America in any way deserved the tragic events that occurred on September 11, 2001, the fact remains that everyone is entitled to express their opinions. Laws that limit inciting or provocative speech often called fighting words, or offensive expressions such as pornography, are subject to what the United States Supreme Court has determined a strict scrutiny test. The government may impose content regulations on certain categories of expression that do not merit First Amendment protection. For example, the Court stated in Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, 315 U.S. 568, (1942),"There are certain defined and narrowly limited classes of speech, the prevention and punishment of which have never bee,n thought to raise constitutional problems."Â