this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2024
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The first amendment isn’t really a guarantee of free speech so much as it’s used as a foundation of how far speech will be tolerated— there are limits to the 1st Amendment. Sedition/treason, incitements to violence, fraud, and many others.
But, since our justice system is punitive rather than preventative (for the most part), it’s best to keep in mind that freedom of speech in America does not always translate to freedom of consequences for that speech. You can (and many do) say what you want - and “speech” has been interpreted to mean many forms of expression - but you may find yourself run afoul of either a few restrictive laws or, worse, massive societal consequences.
Tho it's worth pointing out that threatening to kill the president is one of the most illegal forms of speech in the US. To the point that it could be illegal to say it alone in a room to yourself out loud
And this includes all of those.