The right to the freedom of speech in the United States

The author examines the law of free expression in the United States, where over the last century, the Supreme Court has developed several principles that ser­ve as cornerstones of the its current First Amendment jurisprudence. First, whether the Supreme Court con­siders speech to be "high-value" or "low-value" de­termines the level of protection speech receives under the First Amendment. Second, whether a regulation of speech is "content-based" or "content-neutral" also affects whether the Court finds the regulation to be con­stitutional. Finally, the governmenťs ability to regula­te speech occurring on government property - e.g., pu­blic parks, streets, and libraries - may vary depending upon the type of property involved. These three foun­dational principles are discussed in greater detail.