Eight Values of Free Expression
When it comes to the eight freedoms of expression, there is one that sticks out to me the most; the Discovery of Truth aka the Marketplace of Ideas. John Milton first suggested this value. He was the first one to say that when truth and falsehood are allowed to freely grapple, truth will win out. And the grappling makes the truth even stronger. Milton stated this in his argument about requiring a license for printing and publishing. In the Marketplace of Ideas, competition between ideas is an important part of deliberation, and the creation of public opinion and self-government.
In regard to which freedom of expression is most prominent today, I would say that the Check on Governmental power would be it. After what we have been through with the recent election and the riots on the Capitol, this value of expression is very important in our society today. The check on governmental powers allows freedom of the press. Freedom of the press enables citizens to learn more about abuses of power, We as American Citizens, along with the press, are part of the checks-and-balance system to restrain the government power and any abuse of power. In the U.S. Government, the checks-and-balance system is a system in which principle of which separate branches of the government are empowered to prevent actions performed by other branches in the government which in results forces them to share power and can prevent an abuse of power. This theory can really help explain what is going on in the world of politics. Although things have died down as of recent, these events are still very fresh in and recent.
The freedom of expression that feels most personal to me is promoting tolerance. Why cannot all of us get along. Has there not been enough hate already? The first amendment promotes protection of freedom of speech. People have argued that freedom of speech, especially through our practice of extending protection to speech that we find hateful or personally upsetting can help to teach us as a society to become more tolerant in other aspects of life — and that a more tolerant society is a better society. Although it does not make sense, the First Amendment protects hate speech. This is because society learns valuable lessons, including why it is hateful and worthy of condemnation. It is how we as a society developed standards about acceptable behavior. We can view tolerance as a basic value of a democratic society and a theory for judicial review. The reason why tolerance is a theory for judicial review is because “tolerance theory suggests that the courts operate as guardians of the First Amendment, striking down censorship laws — practices that lead to the state endorsement or favoritism of a specific religion. Tolerance is but one of several important theories justifying protection of expressive freedoms” (Schultz).
One expression that I think needs to be better understood is protecting dissent. What I mean by this is that it is okay to speak your mind but not violently. Look what happened in January! Just because some people did not agree with the outcome of the election many people ended up getting hurt. Steve Shiffrin once said, “Our system is not supposed to be one of mob rule. The First Amendment protects minority views, no matter how unpopular. You have a strongly protected right to disagree with the government — and everyone else. In fact, it is your patriotic duty to criticize the government.” You may be confused to what a mob rule is. A mob rule is the “control of a political situation by those outside the conventional or lawful realm, typically involving violence and intimidation (“Mob Rule”)”.
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