Brandenburg v. Ohio

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says, “Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech.” This language can be interpreted as offering broad protection to expressive freedom. However, the U.S. Supreme Court did not adopt an expansive interpretation of this provision of the Bill of Rights until the last half of the 20th century. In Brandenburg v. Ohio, widely considered to be a landmark decision, the court wrote an opinion laying out a test for judging the constitutionality of speech advocating illegal actions. Still an important component ...