Free Speech?

 

I Swear

And I swear by the moon and the stars in the sky
I'll be there
I swear like the shadow that's by your side
I'll be there

I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Not A truth. Not what you BELIEVE to be the truth. Not YOUR truth, but THE truth. And that is because a trial is about establishing CERTAINTY. You are not asked for your opinion on the evidence. You are not asked for your opinion of the witnesses. You are not asked for your opinion on the officers of the court who are charged with protecting the witness and seeing that the evidence is being fairly presented. You are not asked for your opinion on the jury who will be ruling on that evidence. Your opinions may be free speech, but they could also be viewed as witness tampering, interfering with a fair trial, or jury intimidation. If you wish, then you are free to express your opinions under oath, on the stand, in front of that jury.

Shouting “Fire” in a crowded theater when there is no fire, using the phase “Your money or your life” during a robbery, or as King Henry II famously ranted leading to the murder of Thomas Becket, “Who will rid me of this troublesome priest” are all speech. But they led to actions that are crimes.

Free speech is protected because the Constitution has rightfully judged that the state can not determine what is the truth. However whether it is true or not, …and there is cetainly the possiblilty that that the speech was a lie, that does not absolve you of the consequences of that speech.

King Henry II might have only uttered words, not committed the murder, and might not even intended the murder, but his contemporaries and history have judged him to have been wrong. King Henry publicly did penance for his words. Just as the state can not prevent your speech because you might be telling the truth, you also can not state with certainty that what you said was THE truth. That certainty is why there is a trial.