The First Amendment and Film
Printed Page 431
Jack Johnson (1878–1946) was the first black heavyweight boxing champion, from 1908 to 1914. His stunning victory over white champion Jim Jeffries in 1910 resulted in race riots across the country and led to a ban on the interstate transportation of boxing films.
Back when the Bill of Rights was ratified, our nation’s founders could not have predicted the advent of visual media. Film, which came into existence in the late 1890s, presented new challenges for those seeking to determine whether expression in film should be protected. The First Amendment said nothing explicit about film. So, until the Supreme Court ruled it was protected speech in 1952, movies were subject first to censorship by citizen groups and lawmakers, and then to the film industry’s self-censorship.