When is Free Speech Okay?

The article Victory for Peace Activist in T-Shirt Case discusses the journey Dan Frazier went on when he created a T-shirt that contained the slogan "Bush Lied...They Died." It also listed the names of all the fallen soldiers at the time, 1,600 names. The shirt was immediately a controversial issue and Dan was sued by the state of Arizona. They did not want to allow the sale of this shirt in the state. When this happened, Dan got help from ACLU and "prevailed in court against the state." One victory was established, but the shirt would continue to make people angry and even cause more law suits.

The family of one of the fallen soldiers sued Frazier for $40 billion and demanded he take the soldiers' names off the shirt. A federal judge tossed the case out claiming, "Exercising free speech in criticizing the government is not outrageous."

When is free speech not okay? When do people not have the right to say what they feel? Tricia Herzfeld, a staff attorney with the ACLU-Tennessee, said, "This case goes beyond this particular shirt to the larger issue of chilling protected political speech. We cannot let our emotions jeopardize the free speech rights of Mr. Frazier or others who want to speak out against the war.” Mr. Frazier speaking out against the war is just another example of how wonderful our rights are as Americans. We ARE allowed to criticize the government's actions and disagree publicly with events that are taking place. This is shown clearly in the example of Dan Frazier and his T-shirt.