The Brown & White

Free speech has its consequences, said Milton J. Heumann, Rutgers University professor of political science, during a lecture on Sept. 16 in Maginnes Hall.

Heumann's lecture, titled "Dangerous Speech: The Case of Irving Feiner," was sponsored by the political science department and the office of student activities in observance of National Constitution Day.

Irving Feiner, a student at Syracuse University, stood atop a wooden box in 1949 and preached to a large crowd about standing up to fight.

He made derogatory remarks about President Harry S. Truman and many other political officials, causing a stir in the crowd. A riot was about to ensue, but cops arrested Feiner to prevent it.

Officers and judges later ruled that a heckler's veto was enacted, in which an acting party's freedom of speech is temporarily halted to prevent the reacting party's behavior.

Many professors wished to testify and speak on behalf of Feiner during his trial but were unable. The judge upheld the decision on Feiner's arrest.

Feiner was soon expelled from Syracuse University but was readmitted not long afterward. Despite how Syracuse treated him during the time of his arrest, the university attempted to mend ties by inviting him to speak at various Syracuse functions, Heumann said.

Feiner spoke in Heumann's civil liberties class at Rutgers twice regarding his case. Feiner died in January of this year.

"That was my absolute favorite class I taught at Rutgers University," Heumann said. Heumann spoke at Feiner's memorial service earlier this year.

Heumann also discussed two other court cases that centered around free speech.

"These cases are about real people with real consequences," Heumann said.

He told the audience about the case of Terminiello v. Chicago. Arthur Terminiello, a fascist priest, made a public speech in 1949 degrading particular racial groups, Heumann said.

Terminiello was arrested for breaching the peace but was soon released when Justice William Douglas reversed the conviction, Heumann said.

The final court case discussed was Dennis v. the United States. Eugene Dennis, general secretary to the United States Communist Party, was arrested, along with a few friends, on grounds of meeting and assembling in order to potentially plan a conspiracy to overthrow the United States government.

Justice Hugo Black later clarified that the arrest was not made because the Communist men were merely meeting.

The arrest was made because the men had agreed to assemble, talk and make potential plans for the future. The court ruled against the men, citing a fault in the Smith Act.

The act forbids anyone to willingly and knowingly teach or advocate the overthrowing of the United States government, to assemble an organization for such purposes and/or to join such a group.

"Many of these court cases are unfairly judged," Heumann said. "The speech is all right unless it is a clear and present danger. If the gravity of the evil is so great, even if it's not imminent, it can be stopped."

Free speech court cases have a long history of divergent results, he said.

"You can go through history and find periods where they suppressed civil liberties," Heumann said.

National occurrences, such as McCarthyism and the Cold War, brought about time periods of negative court rulings.

"We were fearful of the Russians, and we became very defensive," he said.

Heumann stressed the necessity of a system in which free speech and first amendment rights are clearly upheld.

"In a democracy, free speech is very important," Heumann said.

Human dignity stems from free speech, and dignity is important to the way people feel about themselves, Heumann said.

In a nation where free speech is radically checked and observed, he questioned whether this basic civil right is truly being upheld.

We are continually tracked and monitored, he said. Nonetheless, Heumann remains positive on our civil freedoms.

"There must be someplace where they cannot track what we do," he said.

Free speech essentially comes down to individual decisions, he said.

"When are you going to do the right thing?" Heumann said. "When are you going to make that choice? None of us can fight every battle."

History and political science major Brian Lindeboom, '10, agreed with Heumann's ideas.

"The free speech issue needs to be addressed," Lindeboom said. Lindeboom is a member of Amnesty International, a worldwide organization of people campaigning for internationally recognized human rights.

In a question and answer session with Heumann after the lecture, he discussed the importance of education on free speech.

"The more education you have, the more tolerant you are of civil liberties," he said.

Free speech can never be completely free, he noted.

"Speech has consequences," Heumann said. Along with the freedom comes a responsibility that citizens must follow.

"This free speech crisis we are facing right now does not have an end," Heumann said.