“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press, or the right of peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for the redress of grievances” (United States Constitution). In 1789 the anti-federalist main concern was that the Constitution’s lack of adequate guarantees for civil liberties. To provide such guarantees, the First Amendment along with the other nine Amendments known as the Bill of Rights were submitted to the states for ratification on September 25, 1789 and adopted on December 15, 1791. This was a guarantee of the essential rights and liberties that were omitted in the original documents. A series of cases will be presented in this paper to provide a clear idea of the First Amendment. Cases that have cause an impact in society and have changed or modify a law. The five right listed under the First Amendment are: Freedom of religion; “Congress shall not make no law respecting an establishment of religion”. Citizens are allowed to practice any religion they want. Freedom of Speech; it allows the free exchange of ideas necessary for effective decision –making and protects the minority from complete domination by the majority. Freedom of Press; this right is design to discourage the government from operating in secrecy and from controlling the information citizens receive. Freedom of Assembly; Unites states citizens have the right to peacefully assemble to either make a point or protest against something that don’t agree with it. Freedom of Petition; citizens have the right to petition to the government. For example if a neighborhood wants more schools or playgrounds. Civil suits, written docu... ... middle of paper ... ...dentexpression/topic.aspx?topic=clothing_dress_codes_uniforms Newdow v. United States Congress, Elk Grove Unified School District, et al., 542 U.S. 1 (2004). (2010, 10 23). Retrieved 11 20, 2010, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elk_Grove_Unified_School_District_v._Newdow Religious liberty in public life. (2010, 24 2010). Retrieved 11 24, 2010, from firstamendmentcenter: http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/rel_liberty/free_exercise/index.aspx The Oyez Project, Morse v. Frederick , 551 U.S. ___ (2007) available at: ( HYPERLINK "http://www.oyez.org/cases/2000-2009/2006/2006_06_278" http://oyez.org/cases/2000-2009/2006/2006_06_278 ) (last visited Friday, November 25, 2010). Starr, I. (1978). The idea of Liberty: First Amendment Freedoms. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing. West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette, 591 (Supreme Court 6-3 03 11, 1943).
Friedman, L. S. (2010). What Is the State of Civil Liberties in the United States?. Civil liberties (pp. 11-49). Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press.
The Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. Meaning, Congress cannot forbid or ban the exercises or beliefs of any religion. However, the government can in fact interfere with religions practices. This means that the government cannot prohibit the beliefs of any religion, but can intervene in certain practices.
The first Amendment of the United States Constitution says; “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.”[1] Our fore fathers felt that this statement was plain enough for all to understand, however quite often the United States government deems it necessary to make laws to better define those rights that are stated in the Constitution. Today the framers would be both encouraged and discouraged by our modern interpretation the First Amendment the United States Constitution.
Schultz, David, and John R. Vile. The Encyclopedia of Civil Liberties in America. 710-712. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale Virtual Reference Library, n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. .
On December 15, 1791, the Bill of Rights was ratified effective by Congress. These first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America promised the states certain rights and freedoms which could not be infringed by the government. After all, the founding fathers knew from experience that men in their weakness were often tempted by power. They had become all too familiar with this when under the control of King George in England. Therefore, in order to protect the future people of their beautiful country, they promised certain liberties which could not be taken away. Every single one of these freedoms is important for the United States of America. However, the second amendment is especially important to our nation because it allows the people to protect their freedom and defend themselves and the common good against an overreaching government.
First Amendment: Freedom of Religion, of Speech, of the Press, of Peaceful Assembly, and the Right to Petition
How the judicial branch rules in cases relating to the 1st and how they relate that to all the rights of public school students. This includes anything from flag burning to not saluting the flag to practicing religion in school. The main point of this paper is to focus on the fact that schools have a greater ability to restrict speech than government.
In 1787, the Constitution, created by a group of men known as the “Framers”, is the highest law in the United States. At first, the Constitution was not ratify because it did not have a bill of rights which is a list of rights that belong to the people. Therefore to allow changes to the Constitution, the Framers created the amendment process. In 1791, congress proposed twelve changes to the Constitution. Ten of the twelve changes were agreed to by the states and were called “The Bill of Rights.” Some of these rights include the right of free speech, the right to practice your own religion and the right to be silent if you are arrested.
The First Amendment is the first section of the Bill of Rights and is often considered the most important part of the U.S Constitution because it guarantees the citizens of United States the essential personal freedoms of religion, speech, press, peaceful assembly and the freedom to petition the Government. Thanks to the rights granted by the First Amendment, Americans are able to live in a country where they can freely express themselves, speak their mind, pray without interference, protest in peace and where their opinions are taken into consideration, which is something not many other nationalities have the fortune of saying. The Founding Fathers were the framers of the Constitution of the U.S., and the responsible for the elaboration of the First Amendment. The majority of the Founding Fathers were enlightenment thinkers who were in love with liberty, and thought that basic political rights were inevitable for man’s nature. After having experienced the tyranny from their mother countries, the Founding Fathers carefully constructed the Constitution of the United States in a way where tyranny was avoided and a government for the people, by the people and of the people was developed, which is clearly reflected in the Constitution. At the time of inception of the United States, the Founding Fathers created the First Amendment in order to ensure that the government would not interfere with Americans’ basic civil rights. The rights outlined on the First Amendment were considered so important by these leaders that many states refused to ratify the Constitution of the United Sates until there was a conjecture of amendments that would protect individual rights in the future.
The last basic right that the First Amendment stated was the freedom to petition. The freedom to petition is stated in the First Amendment which prohibits Congress from abridging “the right of the people... to petition the Government for a redress of grievance. So this basic right controls what Congress can do to the people and what they can't do against them. Since 1641 the right to petition has been a huge topic that has been talked about all across America.
What does freedom really mean? Many people today are aware that they have a right to freedom, but do not know what that really means. Religion, speech, press, assembly and petition are the five freedoms that the First Amendment specifically speaks about. Let’s take a look at the definition of each of the five freedoms, what the government says about our freedom, how it is acted out and portrayed in America, and a few case studies involving the different aspects of the First Amendment.
The first amendment is the cornerstone of our American society founded years ago by our forefathers. Without the first amendment many ideas, beliefs, and groups could not exist today. The first amendment guaranteed the people of the United States the freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, and freedom of petition. Although the first amendment guarantees us, Americans the freedom of speech, we cannot use it to cause others harm. This amendment has helped shaped Americans into what we are today, because of our right to assemble, speak freely, and worship as we please.
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.
derived from or dependent on any form of government or political power. This right is inherent in every individual. The power of freedom cannot be yielded, nor can it be denied. True justice comes from the exercise of rights.
Without the rights available for the people, ultimately makes them subjects to the government in society rather than citizens. Human rights allow individuals or citizens of the society to govern themselves freely, openly, publicly and repeatedly. Particularly, freedom of speech is an inextricable aspect of a stable and order democratic society. Freedom of speech allows the one to speak his/her mind confidently, gives the free will or avenue to challenge the representatives of or the government (protests, written letter to the government), and/or in other words giving the community the reassurance that his/her voice is heard, ultimately everything is done in the best interest for them (no space for abuse of power)—a democracy. A civil society allows for animated debate among those in disagreement over the issues. In the modern United States, even major issues of national security, war, and peace are discussed freely and assertively in the media, that is newspapers or broadcast televisions or radios, even those who are opposed to the administrations’ foreign policy can easily publicize their views. To add on, another example that demonstrates that the other five characteristics would not exist without human rights is the right to vote and the freedom of speech. The right of vote and the freedom of speech allows citizens in the community to anonymously elect a government representative from the