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Music Censorship

9 Pages 2197 Words


Music Censorship: A Violation of The First Amendment

“Eventually it was discovered that God did
not want us to be all the same. This was bad
news for the Governments of the World…
Mankind must be made more uniformly if
THE FUTURE was going to work out…It
was about the time that someone came up
with the idea of TOTAL CRIMINILATION,
based on the principle that if we were ALL
crooks we could at least be uniform to some
degree in the eyes of the law. Shrewdly our
legislators calculated that most people were
too lazy to perform a REAL CRIME. So
new laws were manufactured making it
possible for anyone to violate them at any
time of the day or night…which is on of the
reasons why music was eventually made
ILLEGAL.”

---Frank Zappa, liner notes from Joe’s
Garage, Acts 2&3 (CBS, 1979)


The first Amendment to the United States Constitution is as follows: “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” (Friendly). Music, like any other form of expression in this country, is protected by the first amendment from anyone who tries to censor it; and it would be a violation of constitutional rights to censor music. Of all the rights and freedoms guaranteed us in the Constitution, it is generally agreed that those set forth in the First Amendment are among the most vital and precious. The first amendment is basically the foundation of our

Wentz 2
country, and censorship has no place in democracy. No government, special interest group, or individual should be allowed to deny anyone the freedom of expression. They
cannot be given the power to control what one chooses to compose, express or listen to. Every person has a right t...

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