Quote:
Originally Posted by Miss Mango
Speech is speech. Just because it\'s said doesn\'t mean you have to listen. It should most definitely be protected.
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Some speech has been deemed not to be protected under the First Amendment. Particularly, speech that causes physical harm--the classic example is "shouting fire in a crowded theater". It's an outdated example, but the point is still the same--speech that could be reasonably expected to cause property damage or personal injury isn't protected. Neither is speech deemed "obscene" by the standards of the community. So there's no absolute "Speech Is Speech" argument to protect so-called hate speech.
I'm not saying I don't think some so-called hate speech isn't protectable. Just that that's a fairly crummy argument for it. Which isn't to say you couldn't argue that the Supreme Court was wrong in making those decisions, but that's literally what you have to say to make a case for it.