4 ms·
By the way, the supreme court case where this phrase around shouting fire in a theater comes from was overturned over 40 years ago. From https://www.theatlantic
by throwawaysea 5y ago
By the way, the supreme court case where this phrase around shouting fire in a theater comes from was overturned over 40 years ago. From https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/11/its-time-to-stop-using-the-fire-in-a-crowded-theater-quote/264449/ https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/11/its-tim...
> Today, despite the "crowded theater" quote's legal irrelevance, advocates of censorship have not stopped trotting it out as thefinal word on the lawful limits of the First Amendment. As Rottman wrote, for this reason, it's "worse than useless in defining the boundaries of constitutional speech. When used metaphorically, it can be deployed against any unpopular speech." Worse, its advocates are tacitly endorsing one of the broadest censorship decisions ever brought down by the Court. It is quite simply, as Ken White calls it, "the most famous and pervasive lazy cheat in American dialogue about free speech."
- jfengel 5y agoIt's illegal to say "I will shoot you if you don't leave this theater." The quote may be wrong, but the concept remains: there are legal limitations on speech. They exist and are more or less universally supported. The question is what those limits are, but few people believe that there shouldn't be any.