Book contents
- You Can’t Always Say What You Want
- You Can’t Always Say What You Want
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Table
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- Chapter 1 Free Speech, But …
- Chapter 2 Guns and Grammar
- Chapter 3 A Clear and Present Danger
- Chapter 4 Strong Language
- Chapter 5 Threat Level: Orange
- Chapter 6 America’s War on Language
- Chapter 7 Repeat After Me …
- Chapter 8 Will Free Speech Survive?
- Notes
- References
- Cases Cited
- Further Reading
- Index
Chapter 8 - Will Free Speech Survive?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 January 2023
- You Can’t Always Say What You Want
- You Can’t Always Say What You Want
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Table
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- Chapter 1 Free Speech, But …
- Chapter 2 Guns and Grammar
- Chapter 3 A Clear and Present Danger
- Chapter 4 Strong Language
- Chapter 5 Threat Level: Orange
- Chapter 6 America’s War on Language
- Chapter 7 Repeat After Me …
- Chapter 8 Will Free Speech Survive?
- Notes
- References
- Cases Cited
- Further Reading
- Index
Summary
The First Amendment protects speech, and it protects speakers from compelled speech. Generally, you can't be forced to say or sign anything – a prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, a loyalty oath, that goes against your deeply held beliefs. But all speech protections are contingent: just as some speech has no constitutional protection, governments and in some cases, employers, may compel certain types of speech. Laws may dictate the content of product labels or other aspects of advertising; employers may require workers to follow scripts or repeat certain formulas; some loyalty oaths may be required; and federal law requires English as the language of air traffic control. We look at three examples of compelled speech in this chapter: the presidential oath of office, prescribed in the US Constitution; the Miranda warning, the caution that police must give to anyone under arrest before they may question them. And statutes that define their own words. Such definitions require us to accept a particular meaning and reject alternatives, and as such, they constitute compelled speech. We see the problems that ensued when the US government enacted a law defining "marriage" as the "union of one man and one woman," a law that was ultimately ruled unconstitution by the US Supreme Court in Windsor v. US.
Keywords
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- You Can't Always Say What You WantThe Paradox of Free Speech, pp. 210 - 228Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023