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Free Speech

Updated 04.16.10

The First Amendment guarantees us freedom of expression, including:

  • The right to associate with whom we choose.
  • The right to protest and dissent.
  • The freedom to read what we choose without censorship or intimidation.
  • The right to express ourselves artistically.
  • Freedom of the press.
  • The right to a redress of grievances.
  • Religious liberty and the separation of church and state.

What's Happening in Ohio
ACLU Legal Actions

Hubbard schools require students to recite Pledge of Allegiance
 Officials at Hubbard Exempted Village School District have been punishing students who refuse to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance. The ACLU sent a letter reminding officials of students' free speech rights.

Stow student newspaper censored
 The ACLU of Ohio intervened on behalf of Stow-Munroe Falls High School students after they sought to publish a memorial of a student who committed suicide.

ACLU v. DeWeese
James DeWeese, a common pleas court judge in Mansfield, displays a poster in his courtroom contrasting the Ten Commandments, described as “Moral Absolutes,” with “Moral Relatives: Humanist Precepts.”  The ACLU of Ohio sued and prevailed in federal court, asserting that the poster was an unconstitutional endorsement of religion. DeWeese has appealed the decision.  Read the legal docket.

Read the most recent press release and link to legal documents here.

American Booksellers Foundation, et al. v. Strickland
Ohio's version of the Computer Decency Act, which has been enjoined since 2002, seeks to regulate Internet content and criminalize online publication of "inappropriate" material. The ACLU of Ohio joined other groups to block the law's enforcement, arguing that it is vague, overbroad, and purports to regulate material published out of state.

While on appeal to the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, that court asked the Ohio Supreme Court to interpret the state law. On January 27, 2010, the Ohio Supreme Court answered by narrowing the statute's application to electronic communications where the sender can control who receives it. The case returned to the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, which concurred with the Ohio Supreme Court's narrow interpretation of the bill in its April 15, 2010 decision. The narrow ruling means that those who post information intended for the general public on websites, listservs, email, and other electronic communications cannot be prosecuted under the law.
Read the legal docket.


What’s Happening Nationally

Check out the ACLU's statement on recent developments in campaign finance law.

Read retired national ACLU Executive Director Ira Glasser's Huffington Post piece: Understanding the Citizens United Ruling

For more explanation of the Citizen's United decision go to the Alliance for Justice website at www.afj.org.

See how the ACLU defends the First Amendment across America on the national website.



Resources

 Students! Know Your Rights handbook.

Defending youth rights online and with cell phones

Can Homeowner’s Associations Regulate Political Speech?

10 Things You Can Do to Protect Free Speech

Banned Books Week briefing paper, which includes an analysis of the First Amendment, censorship, and the right to read, along with summaries of relevant legal cases and a list of banned books.

Right to Protest wallet card

Why the ACLU Defends Free Speech for Unpopular Groups

Read free speech press releases and articles in our News Center.