Passage 1: The First Amendment and Censorship
By Phillip Jones
The writing of the US Constitution spurred numerous debates; some claimed that it would not prevent the head of the central government from becoming a tyrant. They demanded a bill of rights that would establish the rights of citizens, so James Madison wrote a bill of rights that listed actions prohibited by the government. These rights ensured liberties by limiting the government’s ability to interfere with citizens’ lives. The Bill of Rights became the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. The First Amendment reads: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. Consider the prohibition against abridging freedom of speech. The guarantee of freedom of speech enables people to discover, learn, and understand different points of view. A person is free to decide if an idea is worthwhile without pressure from government officials to choose one idea over another. Freedom of speech allows people to express their opinions in music, visual art, and the written word. The Parental Advisory label is a warning label first introduced by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 1985 and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in 2011. It is placed on media with excessive profanities or inappropriate references, with the intention of alerting parents of potentially unsuitable material for younger children. The label was first affixed on CDs and cassette tapes, and now it is included on digital listings offered by online music stores. Note that the First Amendment states that “Congress shall make no law….” Over the years, the US Supreme Court decided that the First Amendment limits the actions of any official at all levels of government, be it in the executive, judicial, or legislative branch. However, the First Amendment is not applicable to private groups or individuals—meaning individual persons and private companies can suppress ideas or information. They can erect the barbed wire fence of censorship whether others consider it right or wrong. Consider this example of allowable censorship with relationship to the music industry. In August 2012, Melissa Webster wrote for The Huffington Post about Walmart’s censorship of music in a case of artist versus corporation. Webster reported that in 2009, the rock band Green Day refused to sell their CDs in Walmart because they opposed the company’s “insistence that they censor the music so it would be more family-friendly.” The music had to be clean and free of profanity, which was somewhat of a Green Day hallmark. “In a particularly ironic Orwellian twist, ‘clean’ is the new word for censorship,” Webster said. “Clean albums. Clean videos. Clean songs. I kid you not.” During 2012, Green Day produced both “clean” and uncensored versions of their albums. As a private business, Walmart can enforce censorship legally, though the government does not have the same ability to do so within the confines of the First Amendment. As an example, Congress enacted the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which included provisions intended to protect adolescents under 18 years of age from “offensive or indecent” material circulated on the Internet. In the case, Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union (1997), all nine justices of the Supreme Court determined that Internet restrictions violated freedom of speech protected by the First Amendment. “The interest in encouraging freedom of expression in a democratic society outweighs any theoretical but unproven benefit of censorship,” Justice Stevens said.
Q: What do BOTH passages say about censorship regarding teenagers? Use at least ONE detail from EACH passage to support your answer. Write your answer in the space provided. Remember to clearly reference the texts.