Summary Of The Film Shouting Fire

Once the Constitution was made, citizens feared that the United States government would become too powerful and limit the rights of the people. In order or combat this fear, the first ten Amendments, known as Bill of Rights, were passed in 1791. The First Amendment protects freedom of speech, assembly, and press. In the film Shouting Fire, directed by Liz Garbus, a quote from Daniel Webster is mentioned, “if he were deprived of all his rights save one, he would preserve the freedom to speak. For by proclaiming it, he could regain all the others which he had lost.” The First Amendment served to keep the government honest and fair. If the U.S. government passed an unpopular or unjust bill or court ruling, the press would spread the decision,

Chase claims that he was expressing his freedom of speech when he wore the shirt to a school-wide sexual acceptance event (Shouting Fire). Chase decided to show his disapproval with the anti-homosexual shirt. Chase did not believe that his shirt would cause a disturbance because “school is a marketplace for ideas” (Shouting Fire). Chase was immediately asked to remove the offensive language from his shirt as it was disrupting the class and his teacher’s lesson (Shouting Fire). Although Chase claimed that no student expressed discomfort, his teacher believed that his shirt violated the rights of his fellow classmates (Shouting Fire). Upon meeting with the vice principal, he was told that he could not practice his religion in school if it was offensive (Shouting

The Skokie March was a pro-Nazi protest in Skokie Illinois (Stone). Many people believe that the march was meant to attack and incite violence and hate towards the Jewish community of Skokie (Shouting Fire). They also believe that the march was in Skokie because of it’s overwhelming Jewish population (Shouting Fire). Their beliefs were partially confirmed because there were swastikas on the flags that were carried by Frank Collin, the leader of the protest (Grossman). Although the court did not rule in favor of the people of Skokie (National), the intent of the march was to cause a panic, similar to “calling, ‘Fire!’ in a crowded theater” (Grossman). Causing unnecessary panic is both dangerous and not protected under the First Amendment (What