Freedom of Speech

I'm seeing a lot of chatter in social media lately about freedom of speech.  The media cites freedom of speech and freedom of the press when they want to write about anything they think will sell.  Parents cite freedom of speech when their precious snowflakes say things online that get them into trouble.  Employees cite freedom of speech when employers create rules and standards to regulate what their employees can post online for public consumption.  There are a lot of examples of people crying out about their freedom of speech.

Let's see what we're looking at....here is the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution:

AMENDMENT I

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.
James Madison said:
"the people shall not be deprived or abridged of the right to speak, to write, or to publish their sentiments; and the freedom of the press, as one of the great bulwarks of liberty, shall be inviolable."
Okay.  So what we are reading here is that as an American, living in the United States, we all have the right to say what we want to say, to write it, to publish it, etc.  What we are NOT seeing is anything granting citizens the rights to be free of any consequences of what we say, write, or publish.  You have the right to call your employer a bungling asshat on Facebook.  Your employer has the right to respond to that, which may include termination of your job.  Your daughter has the right to send hateful messages to a fellow student telling her she should end her life.  That other student, or her legal guardians, have the right to bring charges against your daughter for saying those things.  A newspaper has the right to publish what they see fit, and their readers have the right to not buy that newspaper, and the subjects of their articles have the right to sue for libel if the situation calls for it.  You have the ability to yell 'FIRE!' in a crowded theater, but you are not free from the consequence of being arrested for creating a public panic.
So yes, you DO have the right to Freedom of Speech.  However, you are not exempt from consequence.  If you use your right to harm others you can be held accountable for it.  If you use your right to vent your ire publicly you can be held accountable for what you've said.  Freedom of speech does not mean freedom from responsibility.