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Freedom of speech entails the freedom to speak only your mind. No one has a valid claim to compel your speech. What sufficiently dire circumstance can there be
by jsprogrammer 10y ago
Freedom of speech entails the freedom to speak only your mind. No one has a valid claim to compel your speech.
What sufficiently dire circumstance can there be where a government would have the right to compel speech?
I think the 13th amendment would come into play here as well.
- colejohnson66 10y ago> What sufficiently dire circumstance can there be where a government would have the right to compel speech? "national security"
- bjt 10y agoAt least in the US, there are certainly circumstances where the government can compel speech, though in most cases they can't. There is a lot of case law on the subject. It's mostly in the commercial realm (think cigarette labels) but not entirely (think Jehovah's Witness school children who don't want to salute the flag). I'm not aware of a compelled speech case balancing national security interests against first amendment interests as this would be.
- dTal 10y agoPardon? No one, Jehovah's Witness schoolchildren or otherwise, can be legally compelled to say the pledge of allegiance, stand for the national anthem, or salute the flag. If you know of an instance of this occurring the ACLU would like to hear from you. Or have the rules on this changed when I wasn't looking?
- bjt 10y agoYou're right on the law as it stands today, but the current law exists precisely because of a case about Jehovah's Witnesses being compelled to salute the flag in school. http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/compelledspeech.htm http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/compell...