The Importance of Anonymous Speech
Talley v. California is notable for its exposition on anonymous speech. While looking at the historical applications of anonymous speech, the court points to two uses in particular that influenced their decision.
- Fear of Retaliation - Speaking anonymously protects those that criticize oppressive practices from the oppressors.
- Encourage Open Discource - Once protected, anonymous speech encourages the open discussion in matters of public importance.
Read more about this topic: Talley V. California
Famous quotes containing the words importance, anonymous and/or speech:
“Never before has a generation of parents faced such awesome competition with the mass media for their children’s attention. While parents tout the virtues of premarital virginity, drug-free living, nonviolent resolution of social conflict, or character over physical appearance, their values are daily challenged by television soaps, rock music lyrics, tabloid headlines, and movie scenes extolling the importance of physical appearance and conformity.”
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“I cannot say what poetry is; I know that our sufferings and our concentrated joy, our states of plunging far and dark and turning to come back to the world—so that the moment of intense turning seems still and universal—all are here, in a music like the music of our time, like the hero and like the anonymous forgotten; and there is an exchange here in which our lives are met, and created.”
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“It is clear that not in one thing alone, but in many ways equality and freedom of speech are a good thing.”
—Herodotus (c. 484–424 B.C.)