Freedom of Expression  at the National Endowment for the Arts
Site Table of Contents Course Materials: Freedom of Expression
This section addresses four sets of issues concerning free
speech under the first amendment:  A. Our freedom of speech,
protected by the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights, is one
of our most basic constitutional rights. Yet the precise nature
of what is protected by the First Amendment is often
misunderstood. B. The word speech in the First Amendment has
been extended to a generous sense of "expression" -- verbal,
non-verbal, visual, symbolic. The artistic work supported by the
NEA includes a variety of types of expression enjoying this
broad protection. C. Various exceptions to free speech have been
recognized in American law, including obscenity, defamation,
breach of the peace, incitement to crime, "fighting words," and
sedition. D. The work of major philosophers who have considered
freedom of expression (e.g., J.S. Mill and Joel Feinberg) is
helpful in explaining the rational