The Rights and Responsibilities of the Famous

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Celebrities have many of today's youth watching them, and young people are turning to their idols for judgement on what's right and wrong. Because of the First Amendment, the famous, along with everyone else, have the right to say and do what they want within legal limits, and follow whatever religion they choose. The press also have the right to write and report about celebrities. However, the famous also have the responsibility to be mindful of who is looking up to them and following their every move. They are often thrust into the position of role model before they are ready. They influence this country's future leaders, and are crucial to a child's moral upbringing. A question that must be posed is: Does achieving your dream and becoming famous mean you must sacrifice some basic rights in order to show kids how to live their lives? The First Amendment of the Constitution protects American citizens' freedom of religion, speech, press, petition and assembly. Even today, all American citizens from the homeless to a pop sensation are still guaranteed these rights. However, many take these rights from granted, especially when it comes to celebrities. It was written because at America's inception, citizens demanded a guarantee of their basic freedoms. After America won the Revolutionary War, many citizens were concerned about our country's future government. Many Anti-Federalists (mostly small-scale farmers and townspeople) were afraid of a strong central government, believing that if America had one, the national government would violate people's rights. Many would not sign the Constitution unless they had a list of unalienable rights that the government had to observe. The Constitution couldn't be approved without their signatu... ... middle of paper ... ...ource gave us statistics on who parents think is the worst role model for their kids to look up to. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/25/paparazzi-bill-passes_n_3991404.html Blickley, Leigh. "Paparazzi Bill Passes In California, Protecting Children Of Public Figures." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 25 Sept. 2013. Web. 10 Jan. 2014. This source gave us further information on Senate Bill 606, and learned that the bill targeted ALL children who are being harrassed because of parents' careers, not just the children of celebrities. http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Espionage+Act+of+1917 Debs, Eugene. "Espionage Act of 1917." The Free Dictionary. Farlex, 2008. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. This site helped us continue to learn more about the Espionage Act. This site gave us more legal terms and consequences of breaking the laws this act enforced.

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