Freedom of speech Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Freedom of speech - Essay Example Freedom of speech Freedom of speech is one of the most valued rights of every citizen in the world. The following types of speech are not protected under the First Amendment: those that damage the reputation of another, those that stimulate illegal action, those directed to another person and would inflict injury or a fight and those that are found obscene according to the Miller test. In Miller vs. California, the court gave three points to use on deciding whether something could be described as obscene. These points were applied in the two cases which are the subjects of this paper. Both courts found that the first and second parts of the Miller test were fulfilled. As what had been stated in Skywalker vs. Navarro, Florida laws are very specific on what it considers as obscene. Although this writer agrees with Luke Records that since the judge referred to Florida’s criminal law description as to what is obscene proof beyond reasonable doubt, a requisite in a criminal case, should be presented , the writer also understands the first court’s opinion that the proceeding is not a criminal one and as such aspects of a criminal case is not necessary. The court only needs to review if the material meets Florida laws, as identified in the Miller test. This writer also agrees with the appellate court that the judge’s background in relation to the community referred to in the case is enough to satisfy the first part of the Miller test.... Lastly, as stated earlier, this writer is of the mind that the first court was correct in finding the material, as a whole, lacking of artistic value. True, the music is of hip-hop and rap, two of the most influential and popular kinds of music of the current generation. However, the object of the case in Skywalker vs. Navarro was not the music was a whole but the lyrics or the words in the songs as a whole. As such, â€Å"work, taken as a whole,† as stated in part three of the Miller test should be associated with only the entire lyrics found in As Nasty As They Can Be and not the songs which denotes music combined with lyrics. This writer believes that the appellants knew their album would be tagged as obscene because of the words that can be found there which is why they spent time and money recording and coming out with a â€Å"clean† version and even put a clear warning on the album. The only notable difference between the â€Å"clean† version and the versio n in question were the lyrics, which was really the main focus of the first case. The appellants’ witness who testified about the lyrics claimed that these are examples of musical and literary conventions even. This may be so. Nevertheless, this writer believes that given that because the appellants actually invested on creating a more wholesome version of the album in question, they are only using the First Amendment to protect themselves from further losing on the income they could still get from the album, which had already earned four times more than the album’s cleaner version. Works Cited: Luke Records, Inc. V. Navarro. 960 F. 2d. 134. United States Court of Appeals, 1992. Web. 23 November 2012. Skywalker Records, Inc. v. Navarro. 738