POLSCI 111 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Roe V. Wade, Fourth Amendment To The United States Constitution, Cup-Bearer
11 Jun 2018
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Civil Liberties:
Freedom of Speech:
● “Clear and Present Danger” - test
○ The court will look at each law/issue and asks - does the speech in this case present a
clear and present danger
○ Schenk V. US 1919
■ Clear and pleasure danger = likely to incite lawless actions
■ Trying to balance civil liberties (free speech) with government's goal of
maintaining order
○ Speech but not free speech - not protected speech
■ Obscene speech
■ Libel (false accusations)
● Tricky because public figures are treated differently
■ Sedition: advocating violent overthrow of the government
■ Fighting words: words directly targeted that cause injury to the people they are
addressed to
● Does hate speech count as fighting speech?
● Reasonable Restrictions:
○ Restrictions on putting forward ideas
○ Example: if you want to tell people an idea, you can do it as an individual citizen
■ Cannot set up a huge loudspeaker outside dorms
■ Have to be reasonable
● Symbolic speech:
○ Expressing yourself
○ States can’t pass laws that say that you can’t burn the flag
■ Offensive action
○ Speech codes
● Right to Privacy
○ Abortion
■ Roe V. Wade (1973)
● Court ruled that abortion was a constitutionally protected right
● States can’t pass laws against this
● Doesn’t have to say there is a right to abortion under constitutional law
because it says its protected under privacy
○ People’s private lives are protected in constitution and 4th
amendment
○ Birth Control
■ Griswold V. Connecticut (1965)
● Law in Connecticut that prohibits providing information about
contraceptives (everything about them is illegal)
● Challenged multiple times and lost
● Planned Parenthood won because right to privacy
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
The court will look at each law/issue and asks - does the speech in this case present a clear and present danger. Clear and pleasure danger = likely to incite lawless actions. Trying to balance civil liberties (free speech) with government"s goal of maintaining order. Speech but not free speech - not protected speech. Tricky because public figures are treated differently. Sedition: advocating violent overthrow of the government. Fighting words: words directly targeted that cause injury to the people they are addressed to. Example: if you want to tell people an idea, you can do it as an individual citizen. Cannot set up a huge loudspeaker outside dorms. States can"t pass laws that say that you can"t burn the flag. Court ruled that abortion was a constitutionally protected right. Doesn"t have to say there is a right to abortion under constitutional law because it says its protected under privacy. People"s private lives are protected in constitution and 4th amendment.
