I.

Introduction

Freedom of Speech, freedom of expression, both oral and written, from governmental prior restraint, except as such expression constitutes libel, slander, obscenity, sedition, or criminal conduct such as bribery, perjury, or incitement to riot. In the U.S., this freedom is protected by the 1st Amendment to the Constitution, and is considered essential to the vitality of representative government. At the core of 1st Amendment concerns is the protection of expression that is critical of government policies.

In the view of some scholars, public speech includes freedom of the press (see Press, Freedom of the). Because it is essential to political activities and religious practices, the exercise of the right of free expression often occurs in association with the exercise of the right of peaceable assemblage and freedom of worship; it is also intrinsically related to academic freedom, that is, to the right of teachers to express opinion in accordance with their belief and conscience and with immunity from dismissal or other penalty.