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Simple English definitions for legal terms

fighting words

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A quick definition of fighting words:

Fighting words are words that are meant to start a fight or violence. These words are not protected by the First Amendment, which is a law that protects free speech in the United States. The Supreme Court has defined fighting words as words that can hurt someone or make them want to fight right away. However, not all words that cause a disturbance or disagreement are considered fighting words. The First Amendment still protects speech, even if it is considered fighting words, as long as it is not discriminating against a certain viewpoint.

A more thorough explanation:

Fighting words are words that are intended to provoke violence and may not be protected under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. The Supreme Court defined fighting words in the case of Chaplinsky v New Hampshire (1942) as words that "by their very utterance, inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace."

Examples of fighting words include racial slurs, insults, and threats of violence. For instance, if someone were to use a racial slur against another person with the intention of provoking a physical altercation, those words could be considered fighting words.

However, not all offensive speech is considered fighting words. In the case of Texas v. Johnson (1989), the Supreme Court ruled that burning the American flag, while offensive to some, was not considered fighting words because it did not directly provoke violence.

It is important to note that even if speech is considered fighting words, it may still be protected under the First Amendment if the restriction on speech is based on viewpoint discrimination. This means that the government cannot punish speech simply because they disagree with the ideas expressed.

Fifth Amendment | file

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THATS SO FUNNY
i cant i would go crazy
JumpySubsequentDolphin
20:50
i need to know who decided to do that.
JumpySubsequentDolphin
20:50
omg im on a plane weeeee
the devil
youre on a plane??? LSD made the mile high club??
20:50
yo splitterus are you in school already
20:50
it says ur c/o 2027
JumpySubsequentDolphin
20:51
@SplitterusClitterus: HAHAH yes
ur user is hilarioussss and no i just graduated this may and am now applying ---also im out of messages so ill take a lil
20:52
roger dat. see u in heck
im back, r u applying this cycle too
JumpySubsequentDolphin
21:32
this child fell asleep on me
JumpySubsequentDolphin
21:32
im so uncomfortable
just push him off the entire seat
JumpySubsequentDolphin
21:34
LMAOOOO
JumpySubsequentDolphin
21:35
no he’s literally like 8 and he fully just put his head on my bicep and slept
JumpySubsequentDolphin
21:35
he has since moved
22:12
@SplitterusClitterus: me yesterday
gulc baby pls text me back... i miss you ...... :(
22:23
i just went into a discord vc and yelled "YALL I JUST GOT INTO J.M. SCHOOL OF LAW"
22:24
people were getting excited :sob:
22:25
then someone was like "what does jm stand for" and i was like .. well
AHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH
@JumpySubsequentDolphin: wait this is so cute, also where r u going
JOE MBIDEN
JumpySubsequentDolphin
22:39
@splitty Oregon!
oh yay for what thats so random
JumpySubsequentDolphin
22:45
haha my brother and sister in law live there
so cutie oregon is beatiful
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