The Tolerant Society: Freedom of Speech and Extremist Speech in AmericaOxford University Press, 1986 - 295 páginas The First Amendment provides Americans with a far broader protection of free speech than that available in any other Western democracy, Lee Bollinger notes, and yet other democracies are not seen as significantly less open or more restrictive that the United States. Why do Americans guarantee people the right to advocate the overthrow of the government or advance racist or genocidal ideas? Why, for example, protect the right of neo-Nazis to march in predominantly Jewish Skokie, Illinois? In The Tolerant Society, Bollinger offers a masterful critique of the major theories of freedom of expression, and offers an alternative explanation. Traditional justifications for protecting extremist speech have turned largely on the inherent value of self-expression, maintaining that the benefits of the free interchange of ideas include the greater likelihood of serving truth and of promoting wise decisions in a democracy. Bollinger finds these theories persuasive but inadequate. Buttrressing his argument with references to the Skokie case and many other examples, as well as a careful analysis of the primary literature on free speech, he contends that the real value of toloeration of extremist speech lies in the extraordinary self-control toward antisocial behavior that it elicits: society is stengthened by the exercise of tolerance, he maintains. The problem of finding an appropriate response--especially when emotions make measured response difficult--is common to all social interaction, Bollinger points out, and there are useful lesons to be learned from withholding punishment even for what is conceded to be bad behavior. About the Author: Lee C. Bollinger is Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School. |
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Página 78
... critical of it , the problem cannot be disposed of simply by standing guard over the core area of valued expression . This is so for three primary reasons . First , much damage can be done before the unconstitutional behavior can be ...
... critical of it , the problem cannot be disposed of simply by standing guard over the core area of valued expression . This is so for three primary reasons . First , much damage can be done before the unconstitutional behavior can be ...
Página 204
... critical question [ was ] whether the harm that the state is seeking to avert is one that grows out of the fact that the defendant is communicating , and more particularly out of the way people can be expected to react to his message ...
... critical question [ was ] whether the harm that the state is seeking to avert is one that grows out of the fact that the defendant is communicating , and more particularly out of the way people can be expected to react to his message ...
Página 222
... critical when others are expressing doubts and objections to the position being taken . Not until the last decade has any significant attention been paid in First Amendment scholarship to examining critically the premises underlying the ...
... critical when others are expressing doubts and objections to the position being taken . Not until the last decade has any significant attention been paid in First Amendment scholarship to examining critically the premises underlying the ...
Contenido
Introduction | 3 |
Enslaved to Freedom? | 12 |
The Classical Model and Its Limits | 43 |
Derechos de autor | |
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The Tolerant Society Lee C. Bollinger Dean University of Michigan Law School Vista previa limitada - 1986 |
Términos y frases comunes
actually Amendment appear argument attitudes basic become behavior beliefs benefits capacity chapter citizens claim clear commitment concern considered constitutional context course Court danger decide decision defendants desire developed discussion doubt effect example excessive expression extreme fact fear feelings free speech principle freedom function give hand harm Holmes human idea important impulse individual injury intellectual interest intolerance involved issues Jews judges judgment judicial kind least less liberty limits majority matter meaning Meiklejohn mind moral nature Nazi noted offered opinion particular perhaps political position possible potential present Press problem prohibit protection provides question reason regarded regulation response result risk role rule seeking seems sense significance simply Skokie social society speak speech activity statement theory thought tolerance true truth understanding United University values York