Free Speech

Freedom of speech, you can say what you want and no one can stop you, simple as that, right? Wrong, when I first started this project that’s what I believed. I had never research exactly what the first amendment entailed, but I thought I had a pretty good grasp on the concept. I chose this topic because I knew it was an idea that had caught the interest of most people throughout their lives and it was a concept I believed I needed to know more about. I thought I knew the basics and all I was going to learn is how it came to be and people’s opinions about what is included and excluded. What I didn't realize at the time was that my knowledge on the subject was just the bare minimum, maybe, and by embarking on the simple journey of learning about freedom of speech I would uncover a whole new set of questions.

One of the ideas that intrigued me was how Americans appropriate the rights guaranteed under the first amendment. So I decided I would investigate the way cases get from a simple state circuit court to the supreme court. It turns out there are a multitude of ways for this to occur, so I decided the best way to learn more about this subject was by learning about cases that had successfully been denied and accepted by the Supreme Court.

The first case I came to was the Schenck v. United States. During WWI Charles Scheck, the secretary of the American Socialist Party, passed out pamphlets that urged young men to petition a repeal of the draft. He was charged with violating the Espionage Act. Schenck believed the Espionage Act violated his First Amendment rights. So he appealed the courts decision and was taken before the Supreme Court who still found him guilty. This discovery made me wonder if all one had to do was claim their verdict was a violation of the first amendment and they got the opportunity to go before the Supreme Court?  This idea was flawed and I knew it could not be true because the Supreme Court would waste an abundance of time on cases that were irrelevant to the first Amendment. Therefore I decided to research how the cases that actually did appear before the Supreme Court were selected.

 In order for a case to be submitted to the Supreme Court it must first be tried by a federal or a state court. If the person/people believe there verdict is a violation of there first amendment rights then they have the opportunity to appeal to the Supreme Court.There are approximately 8,000 cases submitted every year that must be sifted through in order for the appropriate cases to be decided upon. The law clerks, which each of the nine justices have, assist with the initial process of reading these cases. Once a week the justices meet in a room with twenty five carts full of cases and all the materials that may be necessary in their decision process of choosing the appropriate ones. Through the process of sifting through the appeals for the second time, around 99% of them are denied. That means only 1.25% of the original 8,000 appeals are accepted. In order for a case to be chosen four people must agree it is important enough to be placed on the docket. This consists of fewer than 100 cases.

After the cases are decided upon oral arguments begin. Oral arguments are heard in two week cycles. The first two weeks are used for courtroom arguments followed by two weeks of reflections and the writing of opinions. After this time has ended the cases are discussed again and the oral arguments are taken into consideration. At the end of this discussion each of the justices are asked to vote. Once a tentative decision is reached after voting, it is necessary for the justices to write an opinion. The opinion states why the justices came to the decision they did. The chief justice is normally tasked with writing the opinion, but each justice is allowed to submit there own opinion. After these are read and considered a majority of at least six justices must agree in order for a consensus to be reached.

Once I had discovered how free speech cases are decided upon, I wanted to look into other major free speech cases that had made it into the 1.25% of cases tried before the Supreme Court. The next case that I found was Texas v. Johnson. In this case Johnson had participated in a demonstration that was protesting the Reagan administration. At the end of the demonstration Johnson burned a flag while the protesters chanted around him. Johnson was charged with the desecration of a venerated object which was against Texas statute. He was convicted by a state court. He then appealed and appeared before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals which reversed the states verdict. Finding that the state could not punish Johnson, under these circumstances, burning a flag, without violating the first amendment. This case never appeared before the Supreme Court but it was still an important part of forming the free speech laws that we have today.

The last cases I analyzed were the Roth v. United States and Miller v. California, which dealt with protected and unprotected speech. Both cases dealt with obscenity. In Roth's case he was found guilty for mailing obscene materials. Obscenity was then ruled not within the area of constitutionally protected speech or press. This posed a problem though, because what some people consider to be art can be offensive and obscene to others. This is where the Miller v. California case came into play. In Miller's case the Supreme Court ruled the definition of obscene was different in each community, therefore it should be held to the standards of the community as whether or not it is obscene. In addition to this decision,  the Chief Justice at the time, Warren Burger, wrote what was considered to be obscene according to the Supreme Court. This list consisted of three points. Number one: the work, taken as a whole, appealed "to a prurient interest in sex". Number two: The work showed "patently offensive" sexual conduct that was specifically defined by an obscenity law. Number three: The work, taken as a whole, lacked "serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value."

Freedom of speech is important to people because it gives them the option to say and in some cases do what they believe is necessary. America was founded on Freedom, so therefore it has always been an important value to protect. I believe this is one of the reasons Freedom of speech was created as the First Amendment and not the ninth or tenth. If one does not have the opportunity to say their brilliant ideas or express their opinions, then the world stays the same and no positive change can occur. Whether one wants to go out and change the world through a moving speech or just simply express there thoughts on a controversial topic, the option is always there, and that freedom is so important.

The truth is I have not even touch on all the knowledge, court cases, and logistics that surround freedom of speech. It is an enormous amount of information that can be hard to process all at once. I can say though, that through my study of what started out as wanting to learn the "simple" facts of free speech, I have certainly obtained that knowledge and more. This process has also left me with numerous questions and ideas I would like to research in the future, which I believe is an important job of any type of research one participates in. If ones curiosity and questions end after the last sentence of the paper is finished then the learning ends too, and that is never a positive outcome.

Free Speech

                I used this source to gain basic information about what the First Amendment says. I also learned what the First Amendment does not include. I believe that it is a reputable source because it is produced by the government.

Dictionary

                I used this source to learn the literal definition of freedom. I believe that this is a reputable source because it is the dictionary.

Unprotected Speech

                I used this source to learn about unprotected speech. I believe that it is a reputable source because it is from a legal assistance website.

Protected Speech

                I used this source to learn about protected speech and the regulations on speech, such as what falls under the category of speech. I believe that this is a reputable source because it is published by the University of Baltimore which is a reputable university.

Schenck Case

                I used this source to gain information on the Schenck case from 1919. I believe that it is a cresitable source because PBS is known for having accurate historical articles.

AP Gov text book

                I used this book to learn about the importance of free speech. I believe this is a credible source because it is an AP study source for government.

Constitution
              I used the constitution to read the first amendment. I believe that this is a reputable source because it is the Constitution

Texas v. Johnson
               I used this source to learn the details about the Texas v. Johnson case. I believe that this is a reputable source because it is published by Cornell which is a highly esteemed college.

Roth v. US
              I used this source to learn details about the Roth v. United States case. I believe that this is a reputable source because it is published by Cornell which is a highly esteemed college.

Schenck incited actions that harm others which was ruled to not be protected by free speech.

Johnson was on trial for burning a flag, which was later ruled protected by free speech.

Roth was on trial for obscenity.

The 1973 Supreme Court that served on the Miller v. California case.

The 1957 Supreme Court which served on the Roth v. United States case.

Cinderella Man

Accurate, the word itself means free from error or defect; consistent with a standard, rule, or model;precise; exact. I believe the word itself holds unrealistic standards for any piece of work. If something was free from error or defect then it would be perfect, and it is an excepted fact by most that nothing is perfect. Therefore by the actual definition of the word accurate the movie Cinderella Man is not an accurate representation of the Great Depression, but I personally think the definition of the word accurate holds lower standards. By my definition, which is that it shows an almost flawless depiction of the time, the movie Cinderella Man is accurate.

In the opening scenes of the movie “Cinderella Man” James Braddock is living the life. He has plentiful source of money, a beautiful family, a successful career, and all the desires that a man could wish for were fulfilled. Soon all of the average mans fairy tale is washed away and he is left living in a small apartment with no money and not enough food to sufficiently feed his family. This is an accurate representation of the transformation in a majority of Americans lives after the Great Depression hits. Before the start of the Great Depression many people were living a luxurious life. Yes, there was still a large number of people who were living below the poverty level before the disaster struck, but not near the amount that would soon be surviving instead of living. I believe that the way the director decided to depict the change from riches to rags that occurred in Braddock’s life is accurate because it was such a sudden change that no one expected. A few scenes later, Braddock is seen giving his meal away to his daughter because there is clearly not enough food available to them to feed their entire family. A problem during the Great Depression was malnutrition. If there was no money then it was impossible to buy food much less healthy food that allowed an individual to obtain the necessary nutrients needed. Obviously people did not want to starve, and many resulted to stealing. Braddock’s son steals a stick of salami from the local meat store in order to try and prevent his family from reaching the point of malnutrition that the children would have to be sent away just to have a chance to survive. This was a common fear among the children in the 1930’s because a lot of times that was the only option for survival, go live with a distant relative that you may have never even met before. In Braddock’s story this becomes the case because they no longer have any sort of heat because they could not afford to pay the bill. The children got sick and they had to go. During the depression no one went to the doctor unless it was the direst of circumstances because they were quite exspensive and there were no government aid program put into place to help with the exspenses until 1935. When Braddock realizes that his children are gone he is infuriated and goes to great measures to get them back. He is unusual; most would have just given up and ran away.

Divorce rates dropped during the depression but abandonment rates increased rapidly. It was not common for men to choose to have a poor man’s divorce and simply just run away. It was an end that most women feared for their families, including Mrs. Braddock. Towards the beginning of the movie we learn that this is a fear of Mrs. Braddock’s when we see this catastrophe occurring to another family. When Mr. Braddock leaves after he is told the devastating news that his children are gone one can only begin to wonder if the director had included that scene as foreshadowing, but the audience soon learns that Braddock is different. A man’s pride is not something that he does not give up without a fight. This was a problem for most men during the depression, they couldn’t handle the fact that they were not able to swoop in and save the day relieving their families suffering and giving them back the pleasures that they once enjoyed. Many resulted to alcohol as an escape, but James Braddock did not. Instead he swallowed his pride and took advantage of the resources that were at hand. He went to the Relief house and gain just enough money between that and begging his former employers to allow his children the ability to return home. Did most men take this option? No, but to allow the audience to have an accurate depiction of what would happen under normal circumstances the director created a character, Mike, who reacted in a more normal way. This allowed the story to remain accurate to the Great Depression with tarnishing James Braddock’s amazing story of luck. Mike is an alcoholic and blames the government for his problems instead of trying to overcome the adversity he is currently facing. This was an semi-average reaction of an American. They blamed others for their problems and were filled with hatred because there seemed to be no way to overcome the situation at hand that they did not choose. Just like Mike a lot of men did drink and stayed drunk. They left their families for extended periods of time. Mike also went down to Hoover town. Although many chose to join this place because they had nowhere else to go and were mad that President Hoover was not trying to help their situation, this was not an average reaction to the Depression and  a majority of the population never set foot in Hoover town. Although this was not average it still was a part of The Great Depression and the director gives an accurate representation of what the town would have been like if one was a part of this cause.

Although I believe that Cinderella Man gives an accurate depiction of the Great Depression I acknowledge that it does not include all the facts nor does it represent ever factor of lives in the Great Depression. I would also like to point out the fact that in order for this movie to represent the entirety of the Great Depression it would be way too long to show in a movie theatre. Movies are also suppose to prompt deeper thought and if the movie gave you all the facts then it would not leave you with any mystery and you would already know everything leaving you with no room to grow and slightly bored.

No, James Braddock was not the normal case during the Great Depression. In fact he was an anomaly. He got lucky, it’s as simple as that. But through his story leading up to his triumph over the depression, the supporting characters lives, and the attention to detail that the director has, we are able to see what life in the 1930’s was like. The movie allows us to ask questions and through those questions learn even more about the Great Depression and the most important fact of all sometimes all one needs is a fairy godmother and good luck.

Facts about the 1930s

Facts about the 1930s

Cinderella Man