Free Speech Zone - ACLU Lawsuits
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution states that no law can be passed or made by the congress that abridges the right of the people to peaceably assemble in order to address their grievances to the government. It set asides area in the public places (called the Free speech Zone or protest zones) and allows the political activists to exercise their free speech in the US. The Government cannot regulate the content of expression though it can do so for the time, place and manner of the meeting.
Secret service working for the President Bush and members of his administration has created the most prominent free speech zones. Though the stated purpose of the zones is to provide safety to the dignitary or the protestors themselves, critics have often claimed that the zones are mishandled in a heavy handed manner. Protestors are literally out of sight of the mass media and therefore the public. Though the secret service denies these allegations, incidents have been cited where the protestors were specifically targeted.
A number of lawsuits have been filed on this issue by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
In 1960`s and 70`s many colleges and universities instituted free speech zones. Recently these restrictions were, however, either removed or revised by many of them following students protest.
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