Reply #68: No it isn't. Don't be silly. [View All]

[MADem]

These guys are inciting murder based on religion. And not just a bit--it's a full THIRD of their programming. We've got Civil Rights law that trumps the ability to speak in that fashion.

The First Amendment to the U. S. Constitution provides that "Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech." But the Supreme Court has never literally interpreted this guarantee as an absolute prohibition against all restrictions on individual speech and expression. Instead, the Supreme Court has identified seven kinds of expression that the government may regulate to varying degrees without running afoul of the Free Speech Clause: (1) core political speech; (2) speech that incites illegal or subversive activity; (3) fighting words; (4) OBSCENITY and PORNOGRAPHY; (5) symbolic speech; (6) commercial speech; and (7) student speech. The degree to which the government may regulate a particular kind of expression depends on the nature of the speech, the context in which the speech is made, and its likely impact upon any listeners. However, both state and federal courts will apply the same level of scrutiny to government regulation of free speech under the First Amendment, since the Free Speech Clause has been made applicable to the states via the Fourteenth Amendment's EQUALPROTECTION and Due Process Clauses. Gitlow v. New York, 268 U.S. 652, 45 S.Ct. 625, 69 L.Ed. 1138 (1925). http://law.enotes.com/everyday-law-encyclopedia/free-speech-freedom-expression

Last time I checked, exhorting people to murder others because of their religion might fall under "inciting illegal or subversive activity."