Rambling wailing wall does not tell the legal stories in American history in chronological order. It is particularly noteworthy that the three cases in the book are directly related to the First Amendment to the US Constitution.
1789 On March 4th, the Constitution of the United States officially became the basic law of the United States. In order to make up for the deficiency of the Constitution, the first Congress passed twelve amendments. Among them, article 10 officially became a part of the Constitution on June 5, 196510, which is called the Bill of Rights. The most decisive thing in the Bill of Rights is the First Amendment: "Congress shall not make laws on the following matters: establishing a religion or prohibiting religious freedom; Deprivation of freedom of speech or freedom of the press; Or deprive the people of the right to assemble peacefully and demand compensation from the government. " Freedom of speech and freedom of the press are the keys to the First Amendment.
The fifth chapter of this book, "Facts should set you free", tells the story of "British royal family and colonial government trying to muzzle newspaper publisher john peter zenger and young American publishing industry". So far, the Zenger case has been regarded as the cornerstone of the freedom of the press and publication in the United States.
10.5, 1733, 165438+ Zeng Ge, the owner of the printing house, published new york Weekly, which was the first folk newspaper in the British and American colonies to specifically publish anti-government remarks, in order to criticize the new governor cosby. The soul of this newspaper is not Zeng Ge, but the former Chief Justice Lewis Morris and the learned lawyer James Alexander who were rudely dismissed by the new governor William Cosby.
1734165438+1October 2, cosby ordered the sheriff to arrest Zeng Ge. 1935 On April 15, the court began to hear the libel lawsuit against Zeng Ge. On the day of the formal trial, Andrew Hamilton, a lawyer from Philadelphia, stood up from the public gallery and expressed his willingness to replace john Chambers, a lawyer appointed by the judiciary for Zeng Ge.
Hamilton was invited by Morris and Alexander. He is a man with political feelings. In his view, this case not only defended an innocent person, but also defended legal and political principles. In the court debate, he pointed out: "The accusation of libel is the sword in the hands of evil kings and cruel cowards. He used it to kill and maim innocent people. On the one hand, he did so because of his lofty position, on the other hand, he lacked courage. He can't and dare not respond to people's criticism in other ways. ..... Like heresy in religion, there are heresies in law, and both of them have undergone great changes. We remember that less than two centuries ago, a man who held views on religious issues like those published in today's newspaper was burned at the stake as a heretic. ..... I think this clearly shows that in new york, a person can mention his God very casually, but when he talks about his governor, he must be very careful. "
Inspired by Hamilton's wonderful debate, 12 jurors made a unanimous verdict of not guilty regardless of the law and the judge's prompt. With Zeng Ge's victory, colonial residents who were critical of the British government gained the right to express themselves freely.
The third chapter "The Enemy is Inside" tells the story of "Radio star john henry Fogg challenges mccarthy era's blacklist". Mccarthy era is the darkest period of state terrorism in American history, so this case is no longer a libel case in the traditional sense. What it opposes is false accusations and unwarranted doubts about McCarthyism.
1On August 29th, 949, Americans got the news that the Soviet Union had successfully manufactured nuclear weapons, and the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union began. The U.S. Congress set up an investigation committee and a loyalty review committee to investigate the suspected producers, thus providing scum like McCarthy with a terrorist force to carry out political persecution.
Born in 1908, McCarthy has long known the great influence of hints and false accusations, and has been climbing all the way. 1953 was appointed as the chairman of the investigation Committee branch of the Senate government affairs Committee. His friend, J. Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI, recommended Roy Cohen, a lawyer of the House Investigation Committee on Non-American Activities, to serve on the Senate Government Affairs Committee. The work of the commission of inquiry is as follows: Hoover provided the senator with the information he needed to destroy the suspect's reputation, McCarthy announced the charges through newspapers or in Congress, and then Cohen sued the suspect for cooperating with real estate forces.
At McCarthy's initiative, the United States set up some private organizations to investigate the suspected producers of * * *. AWARE, led by screenwriter Vincent Harneit, is such an organization. The organization collects information about the staff of various radio and television stations, and then implies in the announcement that these people are supporters of capitalism, so that the defendant can prove his innocence himself. Harnett himself and his associates used this to expand their sphere of influence and profit from it.
1955, john henry fogg, the entertainment host of WCBS radio station, was blacklisted by harnett, whom he had never met before. With the assistance of lawyer Louis Naize, he intends to defend his legal rights through legal procedures.
Before Fogg filed a libel suit, the United States Senate removed McCarthy's power to abuse his power. Nevertheless, the shadow of McCarthyism still lingers, which makes the preliminary investigation of the case protracted and difficult. As the plaintiff, Fogg paid a painful price for long-term unemployment and poverty.
1On April 3rd, 962, the libel case of Fokker v. hanet, which lasted for nearly six years, finally opened. Louis Naize accused McCarthyism in his conclusion: "These people make money by selling patriotism. They don't really want to oppose the producers. ..... McCarthy and other organizations didn't even catch a capitalist, and Mr. hanet didn't realize it. If there really are * * * producers, then they are very dereliction of duty, because according to the provisions of the Constitution, they should have been arrested a long time ago. They admitted that no action was taken. "
Fogg's legal appeal and Naize's court defense won the jury's verdict. The success of the case has greatly changed Americans' understanding of the First Amendment to the Constitution, and at the same time, Fogg has become an example for such Americans: they really love the United States and have firm confidence in its ability to meet challenges and the spirit of tolerance of different faiths. They believe that freedom of speech not only means the right to express unpopular opinions, but also means expressing such opinions without fear of retaliation.
The sixth chapter "The War between Pornographers and Missionaries" tells the story of "Larry Flint fought against the moral majority and became an unexpected winner of freedom of speech".
1 942165438+1October1Larry C. Flint was born in a tenant farmer's family deep in the mountains of Kentucky. 14 years old, lied about his age and enlisted. When he was in his twenties, he opened a strip bar called "Hillbilly Paradise" in Ohio, and then launched a pornographic magazine "Saddle" with pictures of dancers on it. 1980, Flint, 37, has become a multimillionaire. He set up a "shame of the month" column in the magazine to deal with his personal enemy.
Jill falwell was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, USA, with the date of birth: 20 10/August 0 1933+0 1. 1979 founded the moral majority of church and state on the basis of Christian fundamentalism, and supported presidential candidate Reagan to win the general election in 1980. The morally corrupt Flint and his pimp have always been the targets of falwell's public condemnation.
Flint noticed that the moral majority earned more money each year than the Party and the Democratic Party, and the income of missionary falwell was in sharp contrast with his simple life. Therefore, Flint produced and published an obscene spoof advertisement in "Sexy Man" in 1983+0 1 month, which described Falwell's "first time" as if he were having an orgy with his mother in an outdoor toilet where mosquitoes and flies were flying, thus causing legal proceedings in Falwell and being charged with defamation, invasion of privacy and intentional mental pain.
In today's China, Vtyrin's imitation advertisement has a more vivid saying, which is called "spoof". In my opinion, a more accurate noun than "spoof" should be "doing evil". There is a simple reason. Compared with low-level erotic entertainment, the hypocritical and self-righteous integration of politics and religion is the biggest threat to civil rights. Vtyrin has his own theory of "spoofing" or "doing evil". He firmly believes that the First Amendment to the American Constitution is a symbol of a free society, in which every American should be allowed to make his own decision on the facts. Vtyrin also firmly believes that public figures and government officials should be thick-skinned and not sue the law because their feelings are hurt.
In order to deal with falwell's lawsuit, Vtyrin hired an excellent defense lawyer. His name is Allen Isakman. Pre-trial preparation has been going on for nearly a year. 1in the winter of 984, both parties participated in the trial for the first time in Luo Anaker District Court. The jury believed that Vtyrin's purpose in publishing this simulated advertisement was to deliberately cause serious mental pain to falwell, so Flint was awarded compensation of $654.38 million+and punitive damages of $654.38 million+to falwell.
Flint, who refuses to accept the verdict, can't wait for lawyer Isackman to appeal. On August 5, three judges of the Court of Appeal for the Fourth Circuit made a judgment upholding the original judgment. The reason is that Flint released this mock advertisement with positive, malicious and despicable intentions, which is enough to make him liable for compensation.
Such a judgment is actually a moral punishment for the traditional knife and pencil officials in China. I want to add a crime to it, but he has no answer. Faced with such an uncertain or even "unwarranted" legal judgment, newspaper owners, TV producers and civil rights groups jointly submitted an application to the US Supreme Court, hoping that the Supreme Court would accept the case. 1On March 20th, 987, the Federal Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.
In the Supreme Court's trial debate, lawyer Isackman defended: "From a specific point of view, the question is whether rhetoric exaggeration, satire, mockery and personal opinions are protected by the First Amendment if they are made without factual basis, or if they are directed at public figures. ..... What I want to say is that this case is not just an argument between a lecherous and Jill falwell. The verdict of this case will not only make lecherous magazine unable to provide its readers with this vulgar humor and other vulgar humor. It will affect all aspects of our lives. As Judge Wilkinson said, our satirical comments have a long history. You can't find a newspaper in this country that doesn't criticize someone's cartoons and editorials. If Jill falwell can sue mental damage compensation, then anyone in public life can sue mental damage compensation. "
Isaac Mann advocates a broad interpretation of freedom of speech, which can only be restricted in a few cases. When making critical comments on public figures, no matter how unacceptable, they should be protected as long as they do not actually harm public figures. As far as falwell is concerned, no one can reasonably believe that the contents revealed in Flint's mock advertisements are true, so the only injury suffered by the priest is a little emotional pain. If the United States really values freedom of speech and the press, it can't silence the speaker just because of anger.
On the morning of February 24th, 1988, the Supreme Court gave the final ruling: "A candidate who flaunts his flawless resume and noble moral quality should not shout' foul' because his opponent or hardworking reporter put forward the opposite opinion." The eight judges of the Supreme Court did not talk about Flint's excessive and specious behavior, but pointed out the deeper significance of the case. This judgment more clearly gives the American people the right to comment on celebrities and state leaders, thus injecting new vitality into the First Amendment: philosophers, critics and pornographic publishers enjoy equal freedom of speech, and if anyone's freedom of speech is clamped down, others will inevitably remain silent.
This year happens to be the 200th anniversary of the signing of the American Constitution. In the words of Rodney Smola, a jurist and historian, "history shows that in most cases, the major battles about the First Amendment were seized by those who were excluded and ignored by our culture, ... our civil rights activists, our Ku Klux Klan and our Larry Flint."
The crumbling law, wailing wall.
The first chapter of the rambling wailing wall is "to be or not to be", and it is about "being human and the right to die".
1On April 5th, 975, Karen Ann, aged 2/kloc-0, went out to a birthday party with her roommate and drank a drink mixed with sedatives and alcohol in a pub, thus becoming a coma vegetable. As time went by, her adoptive parents Joseph and Juliet Quinan couldn't stand that their adopted daughter continued to rely on medical machinery to maintain a hopeless life, so they hired lawyers to file a lawsuit on the right to die. The success of this case gives Americans the right to decide their own way of death in most cases.
It should be pointed out that it is not only the law that plays a decisive role in this case, but also the religious concern of Joseph and Juliet Queenan as Christians: it means to return their daughter to such a state that her body can hear "a kind voice and bring her to eternal peace".
The second chapter "Amista case" tells the story of "whether a free man can be forced to become a slave". The lawsuit in this case fully exposed the atrocities of selling black slaves in colonial times to the world. The judgment of the Supreme Court of the United States established a principle that all human members, regardless of their skin color, have inherent inalienable and unchangeable freedom rights.
The fourth chapter, "The Position Women Should Have", tells the story of "Susan B Anthony voted and fought for the right to vote".
Susan b Anthony was born in western Massachusetts on February 1820. As a young female teacher, she has formed an independent personality in her work. From 65438 to 1950s, she began to devote herself to the abolitionist movement and the feminist movement. 1872165438+1On the morning of October 5th, Anthony, who had no right to vote, led a group of women to the polling station to vote. After 23 days, the court issued an arrest warrant for her.
Although Susan B Anthony was found guilty, her eight-month lawsuit won wide support. Almost every American who cares about current events knows Anthony's feminist views. 1878, the us congress submitted the 19th amendment to grant women the right to vote: "the right to vote of citizens of the United States shall not be deprived or restricted by the United States or any state because of their sex." The approval of this proposal took a long time and encountered many difficulties. It was not until 42 years later, 1920, that this amendment was passed by the states. Anthony died 14 years ago.
Chapter 7 "What is so expensive?" About "A woman's struggle with cancer and the health maintenance organization she established to survive".
Nilena Schippler Fox, 39, is a mother of four children. In June, 199 1 was diagnosed as breast cancer. The insurance company insured by her and her family, Health Net, the second largest health maintenance organization in California, refused to pay for the bone marrow transplant surgery she needed under various excuses, which led to the case of Nilena v. HealthNet.
On February 28th, 1993, 1993, the jury awarded an astonishing $77 million in punitive damages. Prior to this,1September, 992, Nilena had passed away. The case of Nilena v. Health Network exposed some problems in the American managed medical system, which was followed by people's partial understanding of this issue. So far, Americans are still trying to find a way to balance medical services and control medical expenses.
Chapter 8, "Cleaning Gene Bank", tells the story of "Kelly Barker's forced sterilization and restrictions on reproductive freedom", which is the story of forced sterilization that is still prevalent in China. Kelly Barker in the story is a young woman who is unjustly identified as an imbecile. 19271June19, she was forced to undergo sterilization in the infirmary of Virginia Hospital for Epilepsy and Mental Disorders. Virginia sterilization law, which was officially promulgated after the legalization of Cary sterilization case, caused a series of chain reactions around the world. Based on this, Germany passed the model sterilization law in July 1933, which provided a legal basis for the Nazis to purify the gene bank through guns and poison gas. The forced sterilization of the so-called "imperfect people" is only one step away from the genocide of Jews.
Wailing wall is a relic of Judaism, also known as the Western Wall. Located in the east of the old city in the east of Jerusalem, it is 160 feet long and made of large stones. It is not only the physical proof of Israel's repeated subjugation, but also the spiritual symbol of the Jewish nation's endless life and defeat. Tragic stories mostly happen in court, and the legal trial process is full of unpredictable uncertainty. The establishment of a classic case often depends on the spiritual defense of the parties and their lawyers, and on the rational wisdom of the jury 12 jurors and the nine judges of the Supreme Court. Wailing wall, a crumbling legal system full of blood and tears, is supported by legal persons including parties, lawyers, judges and juries with conscience, responsibility, wisdom and courage. To borrow a sentence from the "Introduction" of the book: "Every day, thousands of Americans enjoy the freedom to dispose of their property and bodies, to express their opinions and to vote. These are the results of the hard work of Americans living in various States in the past 150 years. "