Violation Of Speech In College Essay

An issue which is ongoing involves First Amendment rights to free speech at the University of California Berkeley. Berkeley, on the founders of the free speech movement in the 1960s, has been a centerfield for individuals using their right to speech on a public college campus (Chicago Tribune, 2017). Recently though, Berkeley has been the center for debate for the possibility of restricting student speech beyond what the Constitution may allow. The university canceled a speech that was supposed to be given by an outspoken conservative, Ann Coulter on April 27, 2017. The administrations excuse for the cancellation was that the speech may jeopardize safety on the campus, calling for a “heckler's veto” – which administrations use to silence speech deemed to elicit violence from a crowd. Later it was announced after much dismay from the students, especially from the university’s College Republicans, who proclaimed a violation of free speech, the

New York (1952), where the question asked by the Court was whether Feiner, a student at Syracuse University, was rightfully arrested due to a believed breach of the peace during a speech he gave where the police felt violence would ensue by the public. In a six-to-three opinion, the Court ruled in Feiner’s arrest and the police decision to arrest. The majority authored by Chief Justice Fred Vinson, cited that the police arrest of Feiner was the greatest interest to maintain the peace and avoid violence. The majority opinion also provides a standard for regulating speech, acknowledging that policy authority cannot be used to suppress views held as unpopular, however when a speaker moves away from arguments and towards inciting violence and rioting, the speaker is then without power to prevent the violence, then suppression of speech may take place (340 U.S.