The First Amendment. It gives us the right to say whatever we want without being locked
up for
the crime of talking, right?
But wait – what about that troll who posts fake and harassing stuff about you online?
Should he
be locked up? When does being annoying actually become illegal?
The answer is “that depends”.
Let’s say there are three holes: Hole A, Hole B, and Hole C. Each represents a different
person:
A-hole is the jerk. He's verbally attacking our victim, Hole B, who we’ll call Steve.
And Hole C is
“the reasonable man”. That’s an actual legal term for how the community thinks a
reasonable
person would act in the same situation.
Under the First Amendment, A-hole has the right to free speech. That is, until those
rights
infringe on someone else’s freedom.
For example, if A-hole says something so annoying to Steve that he is forced to react violently,
A-hole would be guilty of harassment. If, and only if, a court rules that any “Reasonable
Man”
would respond the same way.
It’s called “fighting words”, and “fighting words” that incite violence are not protected
under the
First Amendment.
Obscenity isn’t protected either, but there are some caveats. For example, if A-hole’s
obscenity
has artistic or political or scientific value, then it’s totally within his rights to say
it. And once
again the judge of what is and isn’t obscene is our “reasonable man.”
As for racial slurs and other derogatory language, those fit soundly in both the “fighting
words”
and “obscene” categories, so they are pretty much a no-go. Unless, again, the reasonable
man
is cool with it. Hence racial tension in America.
So, the bottom line is... you can say whatever you want to anyone, unless a reasonable person
would find what you’re saying obscene or so annoying that it would incite violence.
In practice, of course, it's usually much murkier than that. So curse away sailors – it's
a-okay, as long as you're doing it for art or science.