SCOTUS 101: Fighting Words

COMMENTARY Courts

SCOTUS 101: Fighting Words

Jun 22, 2017 1 min read

Commentary By

Tiffany Bates @TiffanyHBates

Former Legal Policy Analyst at The Heritage Foundation

Elizabeth Slattery @EHSlattery

Former Legal Fellow and Appellate Advocacy Program Manager

The Supreme Court iStock

This week...

  • With the Supreme Court ruling that no 'hate speech' exception exists in the First Amendment, Tiffany and Elizabeth discuss the case of Asian-American rock band "The Slants" (self-titled the Band Who Must Not Be Named), now allowed to keep their name despite its anti-Asian connotation.
  • Cato Institute senior fellow Ilya Shapiro points out the arbitrary divide between registered and banned speech - government-approved trademarks are often as offensive as those that are prohibited. Despite ambiguities over the protected nature of political speech, however, the current Supreme Court may be the most pro-free speech yet.

Background reading...

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