– Introduction to Law and the Legal Environment of Business

Evaluate this statement: The First Amendment protected all kinds of speech equally.
• Then provide two examples of the U.S. Supreme Court’s position on freedom of speech as that right pertains to businesses.

 ANSWER

The First Amendment and Freedom of Speech

The First Amendment protected all kinds of speech equally.

The statement means that the freedom of speech is protected and restricts the government’s actions on the right to speech and receive information to prevent discrimination between the speakers. The freedom of speech, according to the First Amendment, states that the government should not interfere with the rights of the citizens to speak out. Therefore, there is free speech balance despite the fact that some categories of speech have been regulated by the court. The First Amendment is a measure of the bill of rights that protects the Americans. The First Amendment has protected the Americans’ rights to the freedom of press and speech.

In the U.S., the independence of expression, as well as speech, are highly protected against the government limitations in the First Amendment. Considerably, the First amendment only regulated the administration from the breach of speech. The constitutional right to free communication in the First Amendment is relevant to local administrations and states through the corporate guideline. However, the first amendment only protects the persons or commerce that are performing on behalf of the administration, but the law restricts the private businesses and individuals’ right of free speech.

U.S. Supreme court position on freedom of speech as that right pertains to businesses.

In valentine case in 1942 Valentine v. Christensen, 316 U.S. 52 (1942), the supreme court concluded that commercial speech is an exemption of freedom of speech protection. This means that the court has ruled out that commercial speech is protected in the First Amendment. This decision greatly changed the course of decision making in commercial speech cases since the course cited that commercial speech is not protected. The supreme court stated that commercial communication is different from other forms of expression. The case of Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission, 447 U.S. 557 (1980), the Supreme Court acknowledged that the freedom of communication that pertains business has received lesser protection. The court argued that if the speech should be regulated, the interest of the government in limiting and regulating the speech must be assessed.