{ "id": "95-815", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "95-815", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 434222, "date": "2014-09-08", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T20:06:09.450694", "title": "Freedom of Speech and Press: Exceptions to the First Amendment", "summary": "The First Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that \u201cCongress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.\u201d This language restricts government\u2019s ability to constrain the speech of citizens. The prohibition on abridgment of the freedom of speech is not absolute. Certain types of speech may be prohibited outright. Some types of speech may be more easily constrained than others. Furthermore, speech may be more easily regulated depending upon the location at which it takes place.\nThis report provides an overview of the major exceptions to the First Amendment\u2014of the ways that the Supreme Court has interpreted the guarantee of freedom of speech and press to provide no protection or only limited protection for some types of speech. For example, the Court has decided that the First Amendment provides no protection for obscenity, child pornography, or speech that constitutes what has become widely known as \u201cfighting words.\u201d The Court has also decided that the First Amendment provides less than full protection to commercial speech, defamation (libel and slander), speech that may be harmful to children, speech broadcast on radio and television (as opposed to speech transmitted via cable or the Internet), and public employees\u2019 speech. \nEven speech that enjoys the most extensive First Amendment protection may be subject to \u201cregulations of the time, place, and manner of expression which are content-neutral, are narrowly tailored to serve a significant government interest, and leave open ample alternative channels of communication.\u201d Furthermore, even speech that enjoys the most extensive First Amendment protection may be restricted on the basis of its content if the restriction passes \u201cstrict scrutiny\u201d (i.e., if the government shows that the restriction serves \u201cto promote a compelling interest\u201d and is \u201cthe least restrictive means to further the articulated interest\u201d).\nThis report will outline many of the standards the government must meet when attempting to regulate speech in a constitutional manner. The report will be updated periodically to reflect new developments in the case law.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/95-815", "sha1": "3664e1982f281a66f2cb08b86176ce08439b89bd", "filename": "files/20140908_95-815_3664e1982f281a66f2cb08b86176ce08439b89bd.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/95-815", "sha1": "86f5d8f22e7dd00e84de9cb7b65bfcba616667e7", "filename": "files/20140908_95-815_86f5d8f22e7dd00e84de9cb7b65bfcba616667e7.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 3362, "name": "First Amendment: Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Religion" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc29495/", "id": "95-815_2009Oct16", "date": "2009-10-16", "retrieved": "2010-12-04T14:26:25", "title": "Freedom of Speech and Press: Exceptions to the First Amendment", "summary": "This report provides an overview of the major exceptions to the First Amendment - of the ways that the Supreme Court has interpreted the guarantee of freedom of speech and press to provide no protection or only limited protection for some types of speech. For example, the Court has decided that the First Amendment provides no protection to obscenity, child pornography, or speech that constitutes \"advocacy of the use of force or of law violation ... where such advocacy is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action.\"", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20091016_95-815_ebc068b5494fabe2bed27582d61f8e1c53a9c06c.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20091016_95-815_ebc068b5494fabe2bed27582d61f8e1c53a9c06c.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Civil liberties", "name": "Civil liberties" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Constitutional amendments - U.S. - 1", "name": "Constitutional amendments - U.S. - 1" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Freedom of the press", "name": "Freedom of the press" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Freedom of speech", "name": "Freedom of speech" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": 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], "topics": [ "Constitutional Questions" ] }