POS 2041 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Civil Rights Act Of 1964, Imminent Lawless Action, Free Exercise Clause

• School: University of Florida
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POS 2041
• Professor: Beth Ann Rosenson

Document Summary

Civil liberties: rights for government to not intervene. Civil rights: right to equal treatment by government. Freedom of speech (most protections are for political speech/speech against gov: clear and present danger to nation: 1919, fighting words of doctrine: 1942. Some words constitute violet acts, not protect by first amendment: balancing doctrine: 1951, background to communism--balance must be struck in favor of resisting subversive behavior. Imminence test: 1960s: government can only punish speech if it is directed toward inciting/producing imminent lawless action (in near future) and is likely to incite such action. Fundamental freedoms doctrine 1960s: to defend vietnam war. Some constitutional freedoms such as freedom of speech is so fundamental to democracy that they deserve special preference. Any law limiting it must be under strict scrutiny by the court: unprotected speech, commercial: gov can restrict companies (tobacco comps cannot advertise on tv or radio) Libel: false statement defaming other person: obscenity.