News & Commentary

Download our poster of Books That Never Should Have Been Censored.
What is censorship?
Censorship is the suppression of words, images, or ideas that are offensive and occurs whenever some people succeed in imposing their personal political or moral values on others. Censorship can be carried out by the government as well as private pressure groups. Censorship by the government is unconstitutional.

What does artistic freedom include?
The Supreme Court has interpreted the First Amendment's protection of artistic expression very broadly. It extends not only to books, theatrical works and paintings, but also to posters, television, music videos and comic books--whatever the human creative impulse produces.

Two fundamental principles come into play whenever a court must decide a case involving freedom of expression. The first is "content-neutrality"--the government cannot limit expression just because any listener, or even the majority of a community, is offended by its content. This means tolerating some works that we might find offensive, insulting, outrageous, or just plain bad.

The second principle is that expression may be restricted only if it will clearly cause direct and imminent harm to an important societal interest. The classic example is falsely shouting fire in a crowded theater and causing a stampede. Even then, the speech may be silenced or punished only if there is no other way to avert the harm.

Censorship and the ACLU
Freedom of speech is protected in the First A

Helen Marston, founder of the San Diego ACLU.

Here in San Diego and Imperial, the ACLU was founded in 1933 by Helen Marston, the daughter of prominent civic leaders George and Anna Marston. The “shy” and “unassuming” Wellesley graduate was nonetheless a fierce fighter. She served as plaintiff in a 1935 ACLU loyalty oath case, and began the affiliate’s immigrants’ rights work. She traveled to Imperial County six times in 1933-1934, defying vigilante violence to advocate for the rights of farm workers to assemble and organize.

Other early ACLU cases in San Diego include challenging the Alien Land Act that prohibited everyone except whites and African Americans from owning land in California; defending folk singer Pete Seeger, who was told he would have to sign a loyalty oath before he could play in a rented auditorium (1960); and litigating a school desegregation case in El Centro, in the only case in the decade after Brown v. Board of Education in which African-Americans and Latinos worked together (1955) on school desegregation.

San Diego ACLU 75-year timeline (1930s - 2008)