ABSTRACT
The US Supreme Court has held that except in very limited circumstances, the First Amendment to the Constitution prohibits government from censoring speech simply because it is vulgar or offensive. Although "vulgar speech" is not technically a legal term, states and the federal government have often claimed that certain censorship or punishment of speech is permissible, even under the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment, because the speech at issue is vulgar or otherwise offensive. The Court most clearly addressed the issue of whether certain speech could be prohibited simply because it was vulgar in Cohen v. California, 403 US 15. In the public school setting, however, the Court has been willing to give school officials greater latitude in restricting speech because it is vulgar, lewd, or plainly offensive. The Court reasoned that censoring particular disfavored words could be used a pretext for censoring disfavored ideas.
