Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Your Freedom to Swing Your Fist Ends Where My Nose Begins


How far can another person's freedom take them? Where is the line drawn from one person's rights to another's?
The famous case Snyder vs. Phelps is a classic example of determining where the law that is supposed to protect citizens can interfere with laws to protect others. The First Amendment grants freedom of speech to all citizens, but how vulgar, offensive and obscene can that speech be before it imposes on another person's boundaries, freedoms and personal space. According to this Supreme Court ruling yelling obscenities in the presence of a deceased loved one's family at a military funeral is constitutional. The court may believe that this is constitutional, but is it moral? Possibly the United States does not have a moral constitution. Our constitution does not draw the line as to where one person’s freedom ends and another begins. This is the reason why we have a Supreme Court; to define those boundaries and interpret our Constitution. But what if the people disagree with the verdict, where is our say? In the eyes of public opinion Snyder is the winner. 

No comments:

Post a Comment