The Supreme Court of United States often finds itself trying to balance the First Amendment with discrimination issues. To an extent, individuals can "discriminate" lawfully under the First Amendment. We can think and believe what we want; but we can't always do what we want. While employers generally cannot discriminate based on protected categories like race and religion (which is relatively new), they can discriminate in other ways. For example, an employer can fire an individual because she has red hair. That would be stupid, but red hair is not a protected category. There is also a distinction between corporate speech and individual speech. Corporate speech is far less protected in the caselaw.Originally Posted by Rocco
Since 1791 the Supreme Court has, at times, limited the freedom of speech to protect people. For example, you cannot yell fire in a crowded movie theater if there is no fire. To do so would put others at risk of bodily injury, and the Supreme Court has repeatedly held that speech is not protected when it incites violence or can be expected to physically hurt somebody. Another example: the Ku Klux Klan is allowed to hold a rally in public so long as it registers the event and does not incite violence. This is indeed a very delicate balance.
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