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Examination of Freedom of Speech on Constitution Day 2014
Each year on September 17, Constitution Day is celebrated as the day the United States Constitution was signed by the delegates to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Each year the National Center for State Courts selects a theme for the day’s celebrations. This year the theme is The Bill of Rights.
The Bill of Rights is a collection of the first 10 amendments the new government made to its constitution. These amendments reflect the rights guaranteed to the United States citizens by the Constitution. Without the Bill of Rights we would not have freedoms such as the freedom of the press to report the news as they see fit without government intrusion or the freedom for a group of people to meet outside of a business and protest its practices. Simple acts such as a police officer obtaining a warrant to search a house or a grand jury reviewing the crimes charged against a suspect might instead be an officer barging into a house unannounced or a suspect being thrown in jail without explanation.
To join in the celebration of this year’s Constitution Day, the Judicial Education department of the Office of State Courts Administrator created for the Civic Education Committee of the Supreme Court of Missouri a video featuring one of the most controversial and significant cases springing from the Bill of Rights. Dr. Anthony Simones, Manager of Judicial Education, wrote the script for the video and was featured in the video produced by his staff. The video was produced for distribution to 75 colleges and universities throughout Missouri. Judge Patricia Breckenridge of the Supreme Court of Missouri and chair of the Civic Education Committee explains how this relationship was created. “Federal law requires that institutions receiving federal financial support commemorate Constitution Day in some manner. Many colleges and universities struggle to find programming that would allow them to comply with the law. We approached representatives from higher education about featuring programming from the Civic Education Committee. We received such an overwhelming response that we decided to create a video that could be shared with the interested campuses.”
The case chosen to be featured was Collin v. Smith, a landmark decision on freedom of speech. The case came about when the Illinois city of Skokie refused to allow the National Socialist (Nazi) Party to organize a march in the city in 1977. The city was concerned that many of the Jewish residents of Skokie were Holocaust survivors and were very sensitive to the ideas and symbols the Nazis would present. However, the Nazi party argued that it had a First Amendment right to put forth its ideas, no matter how unpopular they were. The case explored the limits of free speech and established a precedent that continues to shape decisions involving the Bill of Rights even today. The video captures this by ending with a modern day application of Skokie, the controversy over members of the Westboro Baptist Church protesting at soldiers’ funerals. Just how relevant the video would be was brought home when the crew learned that members of the Westboro Baptist Church were protesting about recent events in Ferguson, Missouri just around the corner from the Supreme Court as they filmed.
The video is just the latest product of the Civic Education Committee, joining a series of powerpoint presentations, short films and live events offered to the public for education regarding the judiciary and civics in general. “Our goal is to help people to understand the role of the courts in our constitutional system and the importance of a fair and impartial judiciary,” Simones says. Requests for these presentations may be made through the Discover Missouri Courts website at www.courts.mo.gov/page.jsp?id=113255
To watch the video, follow the image link below.
For more information about the activities of the Supreme Court of Missouri’s Committee on Civic Education, please visit News & Media.
