Student Opinions: Violence
"Our right to speak is also our right to express ourselves, meaning that it should not be against the law to express your beliefs, whether it be on your clothing or made in a speech. Comments made by the Ku Klux Klan, for example, are made out of hate; hate comments made by hate organizations or any comments that threaten violence should not be interpreted as being acceptable under the First Amendment. However, comments with the intent to criticize are a part of our functioning democracy and are thus under our right to speak our minds."
~Caroline Gracia, Providence, RI
"I think that free speech is free speech only if the presentation of opinions is respectful and nonviolent. If opinions are not present in a respectful manner - such as heckling a speaker because of opposing political views - then it doesn't constitute free speech, because in a way, by disrespecting the speaker, you deny their right to free speech. In the same way, violence to state a point is not free speech, because you are not only denying the free speech of whom the violence is against, but you also possess a mindset that only your opinion is right, and people who disagree should be attacked."
~Ben S., Sunnyvale
"Our Supreme Court has ruled that there is "high" and "low" first amendment value to certain speech. I think that makes an ambiguous high to low scale rating how much the first amendment applies to speech is wrong. Speaking is speaking, even if it is offensive or misleading. Inciting violence or physical assault on someone, however, is the one type of speech that I consider to be no longer protected under the first amendment. This is only because inciting violence is more similar to assault than it is to speech. It is not sharing ideas or information - it is calling for an attack."
~Aaron Leventhal, Massachusetts