Village Of Skokie Essay

The Village of Skokie v. National Socialist Party of America

The National Socialist Party, a Nazi group lead by Frank Collin, proposed a march, in full uniform, to be held on May 1, 1977 through the Village of Skokie near Chicago, Illinois. Skokie was the home of thousands of Jewish Holocaust survivors. Shocked by the announcement, the survivors rose in protest against the march (Downs book cover flap). The controversial march that was planned to take place right in the middle of town would clearly have caused problems. If trouble was pretty much guaranteed in Skokie on the day of the march, then should the US Supreme Court have let the Nazis keep their plan to march through Skokie? The proposed Nazi march in the Village of Skokie

There are limitations to the First Amendment because every person interprets the rights differently. The Nazis most likely assumed that it was all right to hate people and say it in public, but the Jewish people disagreed, believing that hatred is unacceptable. Where is the line drawn when it comes to people being able to speak their minds? Justice Murphy, a member of the Supreme Court in 1942, had a say on what is considered allowable under the First Amendment and what crosses the line, and he

This realization brought back a terror…here we are again, in the same position… (Downs 1).

The debate was whether the Nazis had rights. The Jews felt that the Nazi march inflicted mental trauma, triggering painful memories (Downs 93). The Skokie Jews felt that the Nazis should not be protected by the First Amendment and stated, "Defenders of free speech who retain their good sense will realize the Nazis, saying what they say in the way they say it, do exceed reasonable limits" (Bartlett 139). The Jewish citizens of Skokie had strong feelings on why the Nazi gang should be prohibited to come anywhere near their town in uniform and with swastikas. In their opinion, the entire idea of the Nazi's march, which symbolized hatred and murder of millions of Jews, had crossed the line of the First Amendment. The Jews believed that this event would not be a peaceful assembly, and they could not expect Skokie citizens to stay calm with all the past events that they remembered from the horrifying