1st Amendment : Freedom of Speech

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

"A St. Louis man landed in jail for joking about shoe bombs after he boarded a plane.
Michael Shafermeyer, 30, spent more than three days behind bars after making what he says was a joke at Lambert Airport.When a flight attendant asked him to close his laptop after boarding on Saturday, Shafermeyer told KMOV-TV in St. Louis that he jokingly asked her, 'Are you the one who checks for shoe bombs?' He was flying to Maryland to get married and had had a few drinks, the station reported.
Within minutes, federal agents removed him from the plane. He was booked at the St. Louis County jail and placed in solitary confinement, where he spent two-and-a-half days before being placed with other inmates on his final day."

A man in St. Louis was jailed for joking about bombs being on shoes. He had a few drinks before boarding the plane when a attendant asked him to close his laptop he joked and asked her “are you the one who checks for shoe bombs?” after a few minutes he was removed from the plane and booked. He was help in jail for two and a half days in solitary confinement.


This goes with the thought of freedom of speech because he was clearly drunk and it was clearly a joke. If it was a bomb on his shoe she could have seen it. Terrorism is a big deal in modern America but we as American’s do have our first amendment rights to freedom of speech. It applies to people saying bomb in the airport, fire in school, or shark at the beach.

I believe that it was utterly ridiculous for them to arrest him for a simple joke. Instead of it making a crime to say bomb on a plane it should be illegal to be intoxicated on a plane. Why would they let a buzzed guy on a plan anyway? For money and when he tells a drunken joke they decided to escalate it to another level. it is our human right to use freedom of speech and use it as we will.



http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,477446,00.html