General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Missouri student loses driving rights for flying Confederate flag [View all]MFrohike
(1,980 posts)The idea that content can't be subject to restriction is simply ridiculous. Yes, yes, I know it's commonly understood as the law, but it's the logical extension of a dumb idea that the 1st amendment prevents content restrictions except in certain limited cases. I find it repulsive because it ends up lumping legitimate speech alongside moronic speech and treating them both equally. Under modern theories, I highly doubt the doctrine of fighting words ever would have evolved because precious "speech" has to be protected even when it's clear it's nothing but incendiary grandstanding.
My distinction was based on content, in that one symbol had a history of violence and hate behind and the other did not. I think it's absurd to ignore the real world in the quest for some mystical formula of balancing rights. Quite simply, there is a clear distinction, based on their history, between those armbands and the flag. The armbands, as they were used, were a silent protest. That flag is not the symbol of silent protest. To borrow from Holmes, "a page of history is worth a volume of logic." It would be much simpler to acknowledge the simple distinctions rather than build castles in the air based on some notion of speech in the abstract.
I have no real problem with the state making the distinction based on content, in this context only, because high schools really aren't a forum for public speech. Even if one leaves their function aside, on a practical level, how many really provide an outlet for people to make their views heard? I think you have to separate the abstract, lawschool classroom view of the 1st from the reality on the ground. Rights in the abstract are great and all, but they don't mean anything in the abstract, either.
This might be a bit confused as it's kind of an off-the-cuff response to 1st amendment decisions. Hmm, I didn't realize I was quite so annoyed with the trend of the court, well except the neverending damn balancing tests, but there you go.