Post 3: Six Clauses of the First Amendment and Black Lives Matter

 Six Clauses of The First Amendment and Black Lives Matter

On August 22, far-right and far-left protestors clashed in Portland, Oregon. 

Since the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, the Black Lives Matter movement launched itself directly into the public eye and it has not soon left. More and more individuals have started to take note and voice their objections to the unfair treatment African Americans have experienced, many even taking to the street to demand change at protests, walks, and rallies.

The topic has become very politically charged and people feel the need to take a side and become stagnant in the fact that their point of view is right and anyone who disagrees is wrong. These beliefs will cause confrontations between the two sides, much like the recent confrontation between a pro-police rally and a Black Lives Matter Rally in Portland, Oregon.    

 The question is, are the actions of these protestors condoned by the first amendment? 

What does the First Amendment condone?

While the first amendment protects the freedom of speech, there are limitations to what kind of speech is protected. The Supreme Court has determined a few exceptions to the 1st Amendment, stating obscenity, defamation, fraud, incitement, true threats, and speech integral to already criminal conduct are not protected under the first amendment. 

As the title of the New York Time's article suggests, Shouting Turns to Violence in Portland as Dueling Protests Converge, the words the protesters were using incited violence and were actually true threats as their words soon turned into actions.

While the first amendment condoned the two sides holding rallies and their freedom of speech, it does not condone the violence that came from their words or the confrontation that stemmed from the two sides clashing and expressing their opinions and dislike of the other's opinions physically.