Saturday, November 16, 2024

Historical Background on Free Speech Clause

 First Amendment:


From time to time, it's good to go back in time to revisit the past...so today, here is a good overview of key facts related to the FIRST AMENDMENT.  

SOURCE:  https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/amdt1-7-1/ALDE_00013537/

THE FIRST AMENDMENT:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

COMMENTS:

The Free Speech Clause went through several iterations before it was adopted as part of the First Amendment. 

James Madison drafted an initial version of the speech and press clauses that was introduced in the House of Representatives on June 8, 1789. 

Madison’s draft provided: The people shall not be deprived or abridged of their right to speak, to write, or to publish their sentiments; and the freedom of the press, as one of the great bulwarks of liberty, shall be inviolable.1 

The House of Representatives special committee rewrote Madison’s language to make the speech and press clauses read: The freedom of speech and of the press, and the right of the people peaceably to assemble and consult for their common good, and to apply to the government for redress of grievances, shall not be infringed.2 

The Senate subsequently rewrote the speech and press clauses to read: That Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and consult for their common good, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.3 Later, the Senate combined the religion clauses and the speech and press clauses4 and the House and Senate agreed to final language in conference.

There was relatively little debate over the speech and press clauses in the House, and there is no record of debate over the clauses in the Senate.5 During debate over the clauses, Madison warned against the dangers that would arise from discussing and proposing abstract propositions, of which the judgment may not be convinced. I venture to say, that if we confine ourselves to an enumeration of simple, acknowledged principles, the ratification will meet with but little difficulty.6 The general statement of these simple principles, however, gave rise to controversy when applied to specific government actions.7

The Sedition Act of 1798 sparked one such controversy that crystallized a national awareness of the central meaning of the First Amendment.8 The law punished anyone who would write, print, utter or publish . . . any false, scandalous and malicious writing or writings against the government of the United States, or either house of the Congress of the United States, or the President of the United States, with intent to defame . . . or to bring them . . . into contempt or disrepute.9 While Thomas Jefferson and Madison condemned the act as unconstitutional, the Adams Administration used it to prosecute its political opponents.10 Although the Supreme Court never ruled the Sedition Act unconstitutional prior to its expiration in 1801, the Court later recognized a broad consensus from the political and judicial branches that the act was unconstitutional.11

Footnotes

  1.  Jump to essay-1Annals of Cong. 434 (1789). Madison had also proposed language limiting the power of the states in a number of respects, including a guarantee of freedom of the press. Id. at 435. Although passed by the House, the amendment was defeated by the Senate.
  2.  Jump to essay-2Id. at 731.
  3.  Jump to essay-3The Bill of Rights: A Documentary History 1148–49 (B. Schwartz ed. 1971).
  4.  Jump to essay-4Id. at 1153.
  5.  Jump to essay-5The House debate insofar as it touched upon this amendment was concerned almost exclusively with a motion to strike the right to assemble and an amendment to add a right of the people to instruct their Representatives. Annals of Cong. 731–49 (Aug. 15, 1789).
  6.  Jump to essay-6Id. at 738.
  7.  Jump to essay-7For example, Madison refused to concur officially in President George Washington’s condemnation of [c]ertain self-created societies—political clubs supporting the French Revolution—and he successfully deflected Federalist interest in censuring such societies. I. BrantJames Madison: Father of the Constitution 1787–1800, at 416–20 (1950)If we advert to the nature of republican government, Madison told the House, we shall find that the censorial power is in the people over the government, and not in the government over the people. Annals of Cong. 934 (1794). However, while a member of his county’s committee on public safety, Madison had promoted prosecution of Loyalist speakers and the burning of their pamphlets during the Revolutionary period. Papers of James Madison 147, 161–62, 190–92 (W. Hutchinson & W. Rachal, eds., 1962). Writing to Madison in 1788, Jefferson stated: A declaration that the Federal Government will never restrain the presses from printing anything they please, will not take away the liability of the printers for false facts printed. 13 Papers of Thomas Jefferson 442 (J. Boyd ed., 1955). A year later, Jefferson suggested to Madison that the free speech-free press clause might read something like: The people shall not be deprived or abridged of their right to speak, to write or otherwise to publish anything but false facts affecting injuriously the life, liberty, property, or reputation of others or affecting the peace of the confederacy with foreign nations. 15 Paperssupra, at 367.
  8.  Jump to essay-8N.Y. Times Co. v. Sullivan376 U.S. 254, 273 (1964).
  9.  Jump to essay-91 Stat. 596 (1798)
  10.  Jump to essay-10See J. SmithFreedom’s Fetters: The Alien and Sedition Laws and American Civil Liberties 159 et seq. (1956).
  11.  Jump to essay-11N.Y. Times Co.376 U.S. at 276.

Sunday, August 18, 2024

Neighborhood Reads, an adorable independent book store

On a trip to Washington, Missouri I have discovered a charming bookstore  named Neighborhood Reads 

The store has an excellent book selection, including classics, contemporary, foreign and American authors, for both fiction and nonfiction.  I had the pleasure of meeting the owner, Dawn Kitchell, and discussed about the upcoming (Sept 13-14, 2024) Missouri Book Festival 

Dawn organizes reading events well attended by current and future readers, as shown in this February 2024 post in USA Today.

credit and full USA Today post




Saturday, November 5, 2022

Chicago flight


In haibun (a literary form originating in Japan), prose and verse (mostly haiku) coexist; the transition between them  brings on a “shift” that (ideally) offers depth and additional perspective.  

Here is my "Chicago flight" haibun, just published in Failed Haiku #83  - page 88.


Chicago flight


She stops by my seat, and signals that the middle seat is hers.  I stand up and help her with her luggage – a delightful tiny suitcase with floral motifs. Less than two minutes into our chat, the question arrives: “Where are you from?”

“You mean…where …my accent is from?” I ask in turn, smiling.

“Yes.”

“It’s Romanian.”

“Ah, how interesting. You know, I’m retired now, but I’ve been a violinist.  I love European music.  I love this Romanian composer, Bela Bartok.” 

“Bela Bartok is a great musician, indeed, but…” I want to tell her that Bartok is Hungarian, but she is faster:

“Tell me the name of another Romanian composer.”

“Enescu,” I say.  “George Enescu.” 

“A, of course…and, one more?” 

Ciprian Porumbescu comes to mind, and although I hesitate a bit, I go ahead, pronouncing the name slowly.  She repeats it; we both laugh.  Chatting softly about everything and nothing, time passes pleasantly.  After we land, she turns to me and says,

“My name is Lucy.  What is yours?” 

“Cristina.”

We say goodbye and she moves toward the exit.  There, she stops and waits.  When I reach her, she whispers softly:

“By the way, my name is Claire; what is yours?”

pine tree forest

in the darkest shade

off-key chirps






Sunday, October 30, 2022

Roald Dahl: Watch with glittering eyes...

 “…Watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.” 

Roald Dahl




Roald Dahl in his writing hut (obviously during winter) in Great Missenden, England.  

Credits 
@HistoryInPics
         https://twitter.com/historyinpics/status/761253070521131008 


Thursday, September 1, 2022

What a fantastic poem: ALBA by Jack Gilbert

 ALBA


After a summer with happy people

I rush back, scared, gulping 

down pain wherever I can get it.  

                                                                                Jack Gilbert (from Monolithos)

                                                                      Art: Gabriela Popa

Sunday, May 22, 2022

 

My dead parents try to keep out of my way.
When I enter a room they have already left it,
gone off to find something that ought to be done
elsewhere in the house, my dad rolling the Hoover,
my mother with dust rag and Pledge. At times
I’ve heard their old slippers, pattering away
down the hall, or seen for only an instant
what might be the hem of her skirt as it swept
through a door. I leave all the cleaning supplies
where they’re easy to find, and they seem to last
forever. “You don’t need to go!” I call out
through the echoing rooms, but they’ve never
turned back. They leave the floors shining
behind them, and remember to turn off the lights.


more in

Saturday, May 14, 2022

THIS ROSE

Can you believe this beauty has just bloomed in my yard?  This rose, which I have planted three years ago and last year definitely wanted to trash (it was only my busy schedule or more precisely my lack of discipline that prevented me from doing that) --- because it had not bloomed yet...

And in its third year, THIS!  

How shallow I am compared to this rose, to its resilience and wisdom. 








Historical Background on Free Speech Clause

  First Amendment: From time to time, it's good to go back in time to revisit the past...so today, here is a good overview of key facts ...