Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Free Speech during wartime

During times of war, free speech has evidently taken a back seat. The purpose of this blog post is to demonstrate how our free speech can be limited by the government and/or supreme court during times of war. The supreme court even once declared "that the government could restrict speech more in time of war than in times of peace.




During the revolutionary war, those who were considered loyal to the King of England were then claimed to penalties by the colonial leaders whereas they passed laws that it was treasonous to support the British King, hence restricting your liberties greatly under the constitution. The sedition act of 1798 made it a crime to write, print, utter or publish "any false, scandalous and malicious writing or writings about the government of the United States".

During the Civil War, Lincoln also made it a crime to talk about military movements without his approval as he proceeded to also cease telegraph lines from operating and ultimately shut down newspapers.

During World War I, the sedition act of 1918 prohibited any "disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language intended to cause contempt, scorn … as regards the form of government of the United States or Constitution, or the flag or the uniform of the Army or Navy … urging any curtailment of the war with intent to hinder its prosecution; advocating, teaching, defending, or acts supporting or favoring the cause of any country at war with the United States, or opposing the cause of the United States".

During World War II and the day after Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt censored all news and communications throughout the country as well as seizing all news that talked about overthrowing the country. 

Due to 9/11, free speech became very limited courtesy of the USA Patriot Act which allows the government to intercept and obstruct terrorism. It also gives officials the right to "read business records, library records, health-care records, logs of Internet service providers and other documents and papers without the traditional protections that individuals have". 

All in all, during wartime we see freedom of speech take a second back stage seat as security of the nation precedes it. Wartime is an example where one's first amendment rights can be violated. 

https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1597/free-speech-during-wartime

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