COM 440 Midterm

Forum analysis

Public forum: Government property held for use by the public, usually for purposes of exercising rights of speech & assembly Traditional public forum: Lands designed for public use and historically used for public gathering, discussion, and association. Free speech is protected in these areas Designated public forum: Government spaces or buildings that are available for public use within limits Nonpublic forum: Government held property that is not available for public speech and assembly purposes

Definitions and components/elements of libel

Publication of a falsity that damages someone's reputation

Be able to identify the rights protected in the First Amendment:

Speech, Assembly, Press, Religion, Petition, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Time, place, manner restrictions

A first amendment concept that laws regulating the conditions of speech are more acceptable than those regulating content; also, the laws that regulate these conditions -Content neutral on face and manner of application -Law must not completely ban communication -State must articulate substantial/important interest to justify restraint -Law must be narrowly tailored

Identification

A libel plaintiff is required to show that he or she was the specific person whose reputation was harmed.

Writ of certiorari

A petition for review by the supreme court - certiorari means "to be informed of"

Content neutral

A term used to describe government actions that incidentally and unintentionally affect speech as they advance other important government interests unrelated to the content of speech

Prior restraint

Action taken by the gov to prohibit publication of a specific document or text before it is distributed to the public; a policy that requires gov approval before publication

Reed v. Town of Gilbert

Supreme court ruled signs as content based because "applied to particular speech because of the topic discussed or the idea or message expressed" p65 - court determined that laws that make content distinctions, regardless of the law's purpose, are always content based

Marbury v. Madison

This case establishes the Supreme Court's power of Judicial Review- first time an act of congress was declared unconsitutional

NYT Co. v. United States

United States (1971) Often referred to as the "Pentagon Papers" case, the landmark Supreme Court decision defended the First Amendment right of free press against prior restraint by the government.

Near v. Minnesota

established that the gov cant sensor a publication unless it incites violence; a prior restraint is justified

Vague laws

fail to define their terms and are unclear

Stare decisis

the docterine that courts follow precedent; the basis of common law, it literally means to stand by the previous decision

Fighting words

words not protected by the first amendment because they are directed at an individual & cause immediate harm or trigger violent response

Types of opinions

Affirm: to ratify, uphold, or approve a lower court healing Overrule: to reverse the ruling of a lower court Concurring: A separate opinion of a minority of the court or a single judge or justice agreeing with the majority opinion but applying different reasoning or legal principles Dissenting: A separate opinion of a minority of the court or a single jud

Seditious libel (How was this used in the colonies? Do you have a modern right to criticize the government?)

Communication meant to incite people to change the gov; criticism of the gov

General history of the First Amendment incl. how British treated speech

Created to avoid laws of suppression like those in England - england controlled all press after the making of the printing press

Clear and present danger

Doctrine establishing that restrictions on first amendment rights will be upheld if they are necessary to prevent an extremely serious & imminent harm

Falsity

For a statement to be libelous, it must be false. The plaintiff is responsible for demonstrating that the statement at issue is false rather than the defendant providing the statement is true.

Common law

Judge made law composed of the principles and traditions established through court rulings; precedent- based law

Plaintiff and defendant definitions

Plantiff: the party who files the complaint/ sues Defendant: the party accused of violating a law, or the party being sued in a civil lawsuit

Citizens United v. FEC

The Court held that the free speech clause of the First Amendment prohibits the government from restricting independent expenditures for political communications by corporations, including nonprofit corporations, labor unions, and other associations.

Precedent and options for handling it

The outcome of a previous case that establishes a rule of law for courts within the same jurisdiction to follow to determine cases with similar issues

Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire

Walter Chaplinksy, Jehovah's Witness Passed out pamphlets causing organized religion a "racket." Police officer removed him to take him to police headquarters. A long the way he met a town marshal who had earlier warned Chaplinksy to keep it down. Chaplinsky verbally attacked him."You are a god dam.ed racketeer" and "a damned facist." It is illegal for anyone to address "any offensive, derisive or annoying word to anyone who is lawfully in any street or public place... or to call him by an offensive or derisive name." Justice Murphy: opinion says unprotect speech includes: "the lewd and obscene, the profane, the libelous, and the insulting or fighting words ᾶ those which by their utterance inflict injury or tend to incite and immediate breach of the peace."

Hate speech

a category of speech that includes name calling & pointed criticism that demeans others on the basis of race, color, gender, ethnicity, religion, national origin, disability, intellect, or the like

Compelling interest

a government interest of the highest order, an interest the government is required to protect

Overbroad laws

a principle that directs courts to find laws unconstitutional if they restrict more legal activity than necessary

Group ID

libel law allows any member of a group to sue when the entire group has been libeled. the key is whether in libeling the group, the information is also "of and concerning" the individual bringing the lawsuit

True threats

speech-directed toward an individual or historically identified group with the intent of causing fear or harm