Those who won our independence believed . . . that public discussion is a political duty, and that this should be a fundamental principle of the American government. They recognized the risks to which all human institutions are subject. But they knew that order cannot be secured merely through fear of punishment for its infraction; that it is hazardous to discourage thought, hope and imagination; that fear breeds repression; that repression breeds hate; that hate menaces stable government; that the path of safety lies in the opportunity to discuss freely supposed grievances and proposed remedies, and that the fitting remedy for evil counsels is good ones.
Believing in the power of reason as applied through public discussion, they eschewed silence coerced by law -- the argument of force in its worst form. Recognizing the occasional tyrannies of governing majorities, they amended the Constitution so that free speech and assembly should be guaranteed.
Thus, we consider this case against the background of a profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open, and that it may well include vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials. … Erroneous statement is inevitable in free debate, and … it must be protected if the freedoms of expression are to have the “breathing space” that they ‘need to survive
The ruling was revolutionary, because the court for the first time rejected virtually any attempt to squelch criticism of public officials — even if false — as antithetical to “the central meaning of the First Amendment.” Today, our understanding of freedom of the press comes in large part from the Sullivan case. Its core observations and principles remain unchallenged, even as the Internet has turned everyone into a worldwide publisher — capable of calling public officials instantly to account for their actions, and also of ruining reputations with the click of a mouse.
民主制度要能够顺利的运行,公众必须能够自由地无顾忌地对政府官员进行批评,因此对政府官员,公共人物言论的尺度可以特别宽松。
Dracula 发表于 2014-6-1 21:07
L. B. Sullivan是Montgomery (Alabama首府)的 Public Safety commissioner,这个职务同警察局局长的关 ...
“自我审查”普遍指媒体在向公眾發佈訊息前,某些内容已受到媒体内部自己的审查,审查内容包括:政治、商业等。“自我审查”一词常常被狭义化为“政治自我审查”,對涉及某些政權或政治相關內容有所顧忌。
Persecution for the expression of opinions seems to me perfectly logical. If you have no doubt of your premises or you power and want a certain result with all your heart you naturally express your wishes in law and sweep away all opposition…. But when men have realized that time has upset many fighting faiths, they may come to believe even more than they believe the very foundation of their own conduct that the ultimate good desired is better reached by free trade in ideas – that the best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market, and that truth is the only ground upon which their wishes safely can be carried out. That at any rate is the theory of our Constitution. It is an experiment, as all life is an experiment. Every year if not every day we have to wager our salvation upon some prophecy based upon imperfect knowledge. While that experiment is part of our system I think that we should be eternally vigilant against attempts to check the expression of opinions that we loathe and believe to be fraught with death, unless they so imminently threaten immediate interference with the lawful and pressing purposes of the law that an immediate check is required to save the country.
第一宪法修正案的内容是
Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ...
也就是说联邦政府无权限制言论自由,最初第一宪法修正案不约束州政府,后来的第14宪法修正案里有due process clause,20世纪尤其是在法官Hugo Black的主张下,最高法院认为第一宪法修正案通过due process clause也适用于州政府,它们也无权限制言论自由。在实际应用中,除了一些特例(比如儿童色情)以外,一个人不能因为言论承担任何刑事或民事责任。因此第一宪法修正案是用来约束政府的,同私人企业无关。比如如果一个员工在公开场合说公司产品的坏话,或者发表种族主义言论、损害公司形象的话,企业当然有权将其解雇。但是只要他的合同里没有相应的条款的话,第一宪法修正案保证这个员工不用担心被告上法庭,不用担心坐牢或赔偿公司损失。
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