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The Values of Free Expression

 The Values of Free Expression


The First Amendment allows people to have freedom of speech but what does that mean? There are eight different values that can help to explain the rights allotted from the First Amendment that have been discovered by many different people.

The first value is that the people have a right to a Marketplace of Idea. This was discovered by John Milton and can also be known as the Discovery of Truth. This value means that U.S. citizens have the right to figure out what the truth is for themselves. This also can entail their right to be ignorant.


The second value is their participation in Self-Government and was found by Alexander Meiklejohn. This value plays off of the first in that, as people, they have the right to be informed about government policies and be subject to an involved debate. This can also mean that they can ignore certain policies for the candidate to better suit their personal beliefs.


The third value is their right to Stable Change or a Safety Valve. This was found by Benedict Spinoza. This explains that people should have the right to speak their minds but in a more specific way. It includes that the government should allow for smaller groups to say what they need to say in order to prevent violent outbreaks and also allows the government to monitor those groups in order to keep tabs on them and be able to predict rash decisions.


The fourth value is Individual Self-Fulfillment from Edwin Baker. This allows people to fully create their own personality and to be able to check themselves from making more rash judgments.


The fifth value is the right they have to Check on Governmental Power from Vince Blasi. This describes their right to be informed by their government and to have the power to take someone out of office for doing too many of the wrong things.


The sixth value is their right to Promote Tolerance. This comes from Lee Bollinger and encourages people to not spread hate. Society has learned from past mistakes involving hate speech and crimes and want to prevent those things from happening again.


The seventh value is the right to Promote Innovation and comes from Jack Balkin. This promotes a free speech-valuing community and allows for a more diverse and more interesting society.


The eighth, and last, value is their right to Protect Dissent. This promotes and protects the minority and their views and values. A country led in mob rule would be horrible to live in and they don’t want it to become that. This also allows for criticism of the government and allows for the people to speak their minds on their policies and suggest new options.


http://medlawlit.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_9.html

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