Freedom of speech and expression Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Freedom of speech and expression - Essay ExampleFor the purpose of our essay we will mainly dissertate two famous cases Ozzy Osbournes outcry Suicide Solution1 and Ice-Ts Cop Killer2. We will focus on the aspects of the songs that caused such an outrage and we will movement to replace the song in the cultural context to explain and understand their link with the freedom of speech and expression issue.In 1981 was released Ozzy Osbournes first solo record album Blizzard of Ozz. This album included a song called Suicide Solution. The song was originally aimed to talk about alcohol as a deadly substance. The song was written by Osbourne after his friend Bon Scott, lead-singer of AC/DC, had died as a result of alcohol abuse. The word Solution should be understood as variety show and not as answer as we will see later.On October 26, 1984, during the night, John McCollum shot himself in the head with a .22 caliber handgun. He was 19 years old. It was reported that when he entered the room, the cor one and only(a)r found headphones on Johns head. He had been listening for most of the evening to Ozzy Osbournes albums Diary of a madman and Blizzard of Ozz in the living room. He then(prenominal) went in his bedroom, listened to Osbournes album Speak of the devil and shot himself.The foThe following year, in October Johns parents filed suit against Ozzy Osbourne and his record company CBS on charges of negligence, products liability and intentional misconduct, claiming that Osbournes song had incited their son to commit suicide. The case was first dismissed on August 7, 1986, by The Superior Court of Los Angeles County. The McCollums appealed arguing that Osbournes songs were containing themes such as satanic worshiping and death. They precisely targeted the song Suicide Solution because of his lyrics suicide is the only out and of supposedly masked lyrics not printed in the album as why try, why try, get the gun and try it, shoot, shoot, shootThe practice of medic ine was constitutionally protected as decided by the Court of Appeals which ruled that Osbournes medication could not be seen as a cause of the suicide. The first step of this decision was to declare that the music was protected by the First Amendment but then consider that freedom of speech is not absolute. An investigation was conducted by the court to explore the possibilities of Osbournes music encouraging John McCollums suicide. In regards of the Brandenburg test, the Court decided that Osbournes music could not be accountable for the decision taken by McCollum.It is interesting to recall the declaration of the Court of Appeals freedom of speech is not absolute. When one shall consider that freedom of speech and expression must be considered as the possibility to declare anyone of his feelings, we will have to precise this interpretation. Alexis de Tocqueville, the philosopher, in Democracy in America3 explained that when a person expresses an opinion which may seem unpopular, he may be subjected to the rejection of his community. He qualifies freedom of speech as a civil liberty rather then a fundamental liberty. In Osbournes case, we are directly confronted to that type of differentiation. He and his song are rejected because they do not fit with the common thoughts of what music -