Nicolas Ruggeri

Mr. Svidron
US Government 10, Period 4
April 22, 2016

The First Amendment, Freedom of Speech

The Bill of Rights amendment that I have chosen to write about is the first amendment.
The Part of this landmark amendment that really interests me is freedom of speech. Freedom
of speech is something we deal with everyday. The freedom of speech is defined as the right to
express any opinions without censorship or restraint. Freedom of speech is very important for
everyone who lives in the United States of America. Through this right, I can express my opinion
in my everyday life and also in social media. Here is an example on how this right works: If i
wear a shirt to school saying teachers suck, this might seem offensive, but under the first
amendment this is allowed and is a proper way of using your freedom of speech. Now the
wrong way to express your freedom of speech is if you wear a shirt saying that a specific
teacher sucks, so saying Mr Svidron sucks as a teacher would not be allowed because it
infringes on that person. There are several Supreme Court cases that support what i am saying
about freedom of speech. I will describe three cases in relation to freedom of speech.

The first case that I will talk about is Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community
School District. This case is about Mary Beth Tinker along with her friend Christopher Eckhardt.
These students decided to wear black armbands to their school in protest of the Vietnam War.
They were told to take them off their armbands but refused. When the students refused they got
sent home. The parents sued the school for violating their children's rights. The Supreme Court

ruled in the favor of the students and said that they were expressing their right of free speech.
This case is a landmark example of expressing your first amendment rights.

The second case I will talk about is West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette.
This case is about students saying the pledge of allegiance in school. Every student and
teacher had to say the pledge or they were treated as an "insubordination" and people got
punished by expulsion and charges of delinquency. Walter Barnette took this to court saying that
it is a violation of the 1st Amendment. The court ruled in his favor and said that it is indeed a
violation of their right to freedom of speech. Summarizing, you aren't forced to say anything you
dont want to say (for example the pledge of allegiance).

The third and final case I did was Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier. In the case
Cathy Kuhlmeier wrote articles in her school newspaper about teen pregnancy and the impact
of divorce. The newspaper was not allowed to be published because he thought Cathys articles
were inappropriate. Cathy challenged the principal by taking this case all the way to the
Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled that the School board is allowed to edit anything that
a student writes in school. So in reality, you still have freedom of speech but it has its limitations.

In conclusion, freedom of speech affects us every day. This is one of the most important
rights that the framers made in the Bill of Rights. Without free speech we couldn't voice our
opinions on topics and express are self however we want unless it infringes someone.