When I first started research for this paper, I had the uneducated opinion that hate speech should be made illegal, regardless of freedom of speech. However, after reading the articles I’ve read, and reviewing the court cases ruled by the Supreme Court, I have come to the opinion that hate speech should be protected by the First Amendment. Even though hate speech is, in my opinion, deplorable, and should be condemned by us as a society, it should still be protected by the First Amendment and freedom of speech. Despite the awful actions and intentions of groups that use hate speech and the convoluted history of hate speech and its uses, it is still a Constitutional right. If we start limiting what is protected by the Constitution, then we
