Murder Media—Does Media Incite Violence and Lose First Amendment Protection?

Society is increasingly inclined to hold publishers and producers responsible for the violent acts of their readers or viewers. This Note, however, argues that First Amendment protections should not be reduced to the lowest common denominator just because some sociopaths read the same books or view the same movies as the rest of society does. Instead, this Note contends that citizens should be encouraged to take responsibility for their actions and to know that they alone will be held accountable for their antisocial behavior. This Note reviews recent lawsuits against publishers and producers. It then discusses First Amendment theories as they relate to incitement analysis. Next, this Note analyzes the correlation between media and violence and concludes that more studies are needed to see if there is any causal link between violent media and antisocial behavior. Finally, this Note concludes that publishers and producers should have First Amendment protections unless it can be shown that they intended a specific crime to occur