First Amendment to the United States Constitution

4494:(1952). This case centered on a program by the state of New York which allowed children to leave school during school hours to receive religious instruction outside the school. In upholding the New York program Justice Douglas stated: "We are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being. We guarantee the freedom to worship as one chooses. We make room for as wide a variety of beliefs and creeds as the spiritual needs of man deem necessary. We sponsor an attitude on the part of government that shows no partiality to any one group and that lets each flourish according to the zeal of its adherents and the appeal of its dogma. When the state encourages religious instruction or cooperates with religious authorities by adjusting the schedule of public events to sectarian needs, it follows the best of our traditions. For it then respects the religious nature of our people and accommodates the public service to their spiritual needs. To hold that it may not would be to find in the Constitution a requirement that the government show a callous indifference to religious groups. That would be preferring those who believe in no religion over those who do believe. Government may not finance religious groups nor undertake religious instruction nor blend secular and sectarian education nor use secular institutions to force one or some religion on any person. But we find no constitutional requirement which makes it necessary for government to be hostile to religion and to throw its weight against efforts to widen the effective scope of religious influence. The government must be neutral when it comes to competition between sects. It may not thrust any sect on any person. It may not make a religious observance compulsory. It may not coerce anyone to attend church, to observe a religious holiday, or to take religious instruction. But it can close its doors or suspend its operations as to those who want to repair to their religious sanctuary for worship or instruction." 4160:(1972), the Supreme Court said the right to petition encompasses "the approach of citizens or groups of them to administrative agencies (which are both creatures of the legislature, and arms of the executive) and to courts, the third branch of Government. Certainly the right to petition extends to all departments of the Government. The right of access to the courts is indeed but one aspect of the right of petition." Today, thus, this right encompasses petitions to all three branches of the federal government—the Congress, the executive and the judiciary—and has been extended to the states through incorporation. According to the Supreme Court, "redress of grievances" is to be construed broadly: it includes not solely appeals by the public to the government for the redressing of a grievance in the traditional sense, but also, petitions on behalf of private interests seeking personal gain. The right protects not only demands for "a redress of grievances" but also demands for government action. The petition clause includes according to the Supreme Court the opportunity to institute non-frivolous lawsuits and mobilize popular support to change existing laws in a peaceful manner. 1165: 2025:, which it failed to have, and so was declared unconstitutional. In this case the Supreme Court also stated that inquiries whether laws discriminate based on religion does not end with the text of the laws at issue. Facial neutrality of laws (i.e. laws which are apparently neutral in their language but in reality discriminate against a particular group) is not determinative in these inquiries, because both the Free Exercise Clause and the Establishment Clause extends beyond facial discrimination. The Supreme Court explained that "fficial action that targets religious conduct for distinctive treatment cannot be shielded by mere compliance with the requirement of facial neutrality" and "he Free Exercise Clause protects against governmental hostility which is masked as well as overt." The neutrality of a law is also suspect if First Amendment freedoms are curtailed to prevent isolated collateral harms not themselves prohibited by direct regulation. The Court also observed: "The Free Exercise Clause "protect religious observers against unequal treatment," 1379:(1952) the Supreme Court further observed: "Government may not finance religious groups nor undertake religious instruction nor blend secular and sectarian education nor use secular institutions to force one or some religion on any person. But we find no constitutional requirement which makes it necessary for government to be hostile to religion and to throw its weight against efforts to widen the effective scope of religious influence. The government must be neutral when it comes to competition between sects. It may not thrust any sect on any person. It may not make a religious observance compulsory. It may not coerce anyone to attend church, to observe a religious holiday, or to take religious instruction. But it can close its doors or suspend its operations as to those who want to repair to their religious sanctuary for worship or instruction." In 1779:. The Court stated that to rule otherwise, "would be to make the professed doctrines of religious belief superior to the law of the land, and in effect permit every citizen to become a law unto himself. Government would exist only in name under such circumstances." If the purpose or effect of a law is to impede the observance of one or all religions, or is to discriminate invidiously between religions, that law is constitutionally invalid even though the burden may be characterized as being only indirect. But if the State regulates conduct by enacting a general law within its power, the purpose and effect of which is to advance the State's secular goals, the statute is valid despite its indirect burden on religious observance unless the State may accomplish its purpose by means which do not impose such a burden. 1675: 5374:

Association of Connecticut in 1802. Many think this means a radical separation of religion and politics. Some have gone so far as to suggest that religion should be entirely personal and private, kept out of public life and institutions like public schools. That is incorrect: Jefferson wanted to protect states' freedom of religion from federal government control and religious groups' freedom to tend to their internal matters of faith and practice without government interference generally. Unfortunately, Jefferson's phrase is probably more widely known than the actual text of the Constitution's First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

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First Amendment prohibits "any law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ... It must be taken as a command of the broadest scope that explicit language, read in the context of a liberty-loving society, will allow. The assumption that respect for the judiciary can be won by shielding judges from published criticism wrongly appraises the character of American public opinion. For it is a prized American privilege to speak one's mind, although not always with perfect good taste, on all public institutions. And an enforced silence, however limited, solely in the name of preserving the dignity of the bench would probably engender resentment, suspicion, and contempt much more than it would enhance respect."

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Amendment. The First Amendment declares that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. The Fourteenth Amendment has rendered the legislatures of the states as incompetent as Congress to enact such laws. The constitutional inhibition of legislation on the subject of religion has a double aspect. On the one hand, it forestalls compulsion by law of the acceptance of any creed or the practice of any form of worship. Freedom of conscience and freedom to adhere to such religious organization or form of worship as the individual may choose cannot be restricted by law. On the other hand, it safeguards the free exercise of the chosen form of religion."

4507:: "The course of constitutionality neutrality in this area cannot be an absolutely straight line; rigidity could well defeat the basic purpose of these provisions, which is to insure that no religion be sponsored or favored, none commanded, and none inhibited. The general principle deducible from the First Amendment and all that has been said by the Court is this: that we will not tolerate either governmentally established religion or governmental interference with religion. Short of those expressly proscribed governmental acts there is room for play in the joints productive of a benevolent neutrality which will permit religious exercise to exist without sponsorship and without interference." 9008:, 310 U.S. 296 (1940): "When clear and present danger of riot, disorder, interference with traffic upon the public streets, or other immediate threat to public safety, peace, or order appears, the power of the State to prevent or punish is obvious ... we think that, in the absence of a statute narrowly drawn to define and punish specific conduct as constituting a clear and present danger to a substantial interest of the State, the petitioner's communication, considered in the light of the constitutional guarantees, raised no such clear and present menace to public peace and order as to render him liable to conviction of the common law offense in question." 2244:"But, above all else, the First Amendment means that government has no power to restrict expression because of its message, its ideas, its subject matter, or its content. ... To permit the continued building of our politics and culture, and to assure self-fulfillment for each individual, our people are guaranteed the right to express any thought, free from government censorship. The essence of this forbidden censorship is content control. Any restriction on expressive activity because of its content would completely undercut the "profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open."" 1358:(1968) the Supreme Court outlined the broad principle of denominational neutrality mandated by the First Amendment: "Government in our democracy, state and national, must be neutral in matters of religious theory, doctrine, and practice. It may not be hostile to any religion or to the advocacy of no-religion, and it may not aid, foster, or promote one religion or religious theory against another or even against the militant opposite. The First Amendment mandates governmental neutrality between religion and religion, and between religion and nonreligion." The clearest command of the Establishment Clause is, according to the Supreme Court in 3926:, they are protected equally by the Free Speech Clause and the Free Press Clause, because both clauses do not distinguish between media businesses and nonprofessional speakers. This is further shown by the Supreme Court consistently refusing to recognize the First Amendment as providing greater protection to the institutional media than to other speakers. For example, in a case involving campaign finance laws the Court rejected the "suggestion that communication by corporate members of the institutional press is entitled to greater constitutional protection than the same communication by" non-institutional-press businesses. Justice 3450:

pornography, except for child pornography, is in practice free of governmental restrictions in the United States, though pornography about "extreme" sexual practices is occasionally prosecuted. The change in the twentieth century, from total prohibition in 1900 to near-total tolerance in 2000, reflects a series of court cases involving the definition of obscenity. The U.S. Supreme Court has found that most pornography is not obscene, a result of changing definitions of both obscenity and pornography. The legal tolerance also reflects changed social attitudes: one reason there are so few prosecutions for pornography is that

2861: 4177:... Both speech and petition are integral to the democratic process, although not necessarily in the same way. The right to petition allows citizens to express their ideas, hopes, and concerns to their government and their elected representatives, whereas the right to speak fosters the public exchange of ideas that is integral to deliberative democracy as well as to the whole realm of ideas and human affairs. Beyond the political sphere, both speech and petition advance personal expression, although the right to petition is generally concerned with expression directed to the government seeking redress of a grievance. 1160:... religious freedom is defined; and after a recital 'that to suffer the civil magistrate to intrude his powers into the field of opinion, and to restrain the profession or propagation of principles on supposition of their ill tendency, is a dangerous fallacy which at once destroys all religious liberty,' it is declared 'that it is time enough for the rightful purposes of civil government for its officers to interfere when principles break out into overt acts against peace and good order.' In these two sentences is found the true distinction between what properly belongs to the church and what to the State. 809: 3975:(pre-publication censorship). In this case, the Minnesota legislature passed a statute allowing courts to shut down "malicious, scandalous and defamatory newspapers", allowing a defense of truth only in cases where the truth had been told "with good motives and for justifiable ends". The Court applied the Free Press Clause to the states, rejecting the statute as unconstitutional. Hughes quoted Madison in the majority decision, writing, "The impairment of the fundamental security of life and property by criminal alliances and official neglect emphasizes the primary need of a vigilant and courageous press." 1431: 62: 1987: 6489:: "The 'establishment of religion' clause of the First Amendment means at least this: neither a state nor a Federal government can set up a church. Neither can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions or prefer one religion over another." The establishment clause, conservatives insist, precludes the national state from promoting any religious denomination but does not prohibit state governments and local communities from developing policies that encourage general religious beliefs that do not favor a particular sect and are consistent with the secular government's goals. 1218:, 374 U. S. 203, 374 U. S. 222 (1963)." The Establishment Clause acts as a double security, for its aim is as well the prevention of religious control over government as the prevention of political control over religion. The First Amendment's framers knew that intertwining government with religion could lead to bloodshed or oppression, because this happened too often historically. To prevent this dangerous development they set up the Establishment Clause as a line of demarcation between the functions and operations of the institutions of religion and government in society. The 588:'s correspondence to call for "a wall of separation between church and State", a literary but clarifying metaphor for the separation of religions from government and vice versa as well as the free exercise of religious beliefs that many Founders favored. Through decades of contentious litigation, the precise boundaries of the mandated separation have been adjudicated in ways that periodically created controversy. Speech rights were expanded significantly in a series of 20th and 21st century court decisions which protected various forms of political speech, anonymous speech, 2407: 949:, 330 U. S. 1, 330 U. S. 16, that it would be an "establishment" of a religion if the Government financed one church or several churches. For what better way to "establish" an institution than to find the fund that will support it? The "establishment" clause protects citizens also against any law which selects any religious custom, practice, or ritual, puts the force of government behind it, and fines, imprisons, or otherwise penalizes a person for not observing it. The Government plainly could not join forces with one religious group and decree a universal and symbolic 1867:(1961), the freedom to hold religious beliefs and opinions is absolute. Federal or state legislation cannot therefore make it a crime to hold any religious belief or opinion due to the Free Exercise Clause. Legislation by the United States or any constituent state of the United States which forces anyone to embrace any religious belief or to say or believe anything in conflict with his religious tenets is also barred by the Free Exercise Clause. Against this background, the Supreme Court stated that Free Exercise Clause broadly protects religious beliefs and opinions: 3957:, 303 U. S. 444, to play an important role in the discussion of public affairs. Thus, the press serves and was designed to serve as a powerful antidote to any abuses of power by governmental officials, and as a constitutionally chosen means for keeping officials elected by the people responsible to all the people whom they were selected to serve. Suppression of the right of the press to praise or criticize governmental agents and to clamor and contend for or against change, which is all that this editorial did, muzzles one of the very agencies the Framers of our 2095:(1982) the Court declared: "Congress and the courts have been sensitive to the needs flowing from the Free Exercise Clause, but every person cannot be shielded from all the burdens incident to exercising every aspect of the right to practice religious beliefs. When followers of a particular sect enter into commercial activity as a matter of choice, the limits they accept on their own conduct as a matter of conscience and faith are not to be superimposed on the statutory schemes which are binding on others in that activity." The Supreme Court in 2625:(1949) where the Supreme Court noted that the vitality of civil and political institutions in society depends on free discussion. Democracy requires free speech because it is only through free debate and free exchange of ideas that government remains responsive to the will of the people and peaceful change is effected. Restrictions on free speech are only permissible when the speech at issue is likely to produce a clear and present danger of a serious substantive evil that rises far above public inconvenience, annoyance, or unrest. Justice 2115:(2014) the Supreme Court had to decide, with a view to the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause and the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, "the profound cultural question of whether a private, profit-making business organized as a corporation can "exercise" religion and, if it can, how far that is protected from government interference." The Court decided that closely held, for-profit corporations have free exercise rights under the RFRA, but its decision was not based on the constitutional protections of the First Amendment. 1593:, the Court stated that the separation of church and state could never be absolute: "Our prior holdings do not call for total separation between church and state; total separation is not possible in an absolute sense. Some relationship between government and religious organizations is inevitable", the court wrote. "Judicial caveats against entanglement must recognize that the line of separation, far from being a 'wall', is a blurred, indistinct, and variable barrier depending on all the circumstances of a particular relationship." 3879:. In that case, the Court unanimously ruled that while the First Amendment may allow private property owners to prohibit trespass by political speakers and petition-gatherers, California was permitted to restrict property owners whose property is equivalent to a traditional public forum (often shopping malls and grocery stores) from enforcing their private property rights to exclude such individuals. However, the Court did maintain that shopping centers could impose "reasonable restrictions on expressive activity". Subsequently, 3939: 1086: 2033: 3794:. Justice Brennan suggested that public officials may sue for libel only if the statements in question were published with "actual malice"—"knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not". In sum, the court held that "the First Amendment protects the publication of all statements, even false ones, about the conduct of public officials except when statements are made with actual malice (with knowledge that they are false or in reckless disregard of their truth or falsity)." 1690:

religion, or what might be called "free exercise equality." Free exercise is the liberty of persons to reach, hold, practice and change beliefs freely according to the dictates of conscience. The Free Exercise Clause prohibits governmental interference with religious belief and, within limits, religious practice. "Freedom of religion means freedom to hold an opinion or belief, but not to take action in violation of social duties or subversive to good order." The clause withdraws from legislative power,

4125: 2180: 2595:... believed that freedom to think as you will and to speak as you think are means indispensable to the discovery and spread of political truth; that without free speech and assembly discussion would be futile; that with them, discussion affords ordinarily adequate protection against the dissemination of noxious doctrine; that the greatest menace to freedom is an inert people; that public discussion is a political duty; and that this should be a fundamental principle of the American government. 2029:, 480 U. S. 136, 148 (1987) (STEVENS, J., concurring in judgment), and inequality results when a legislature decides that the governmental interests it seeks to advance are worthy of being pursued only against conduct with a religious motivation. The principle that government, in pursuit of legitimate interests, cannot in a selective manner impose burdens only on conduct motivated by religious belief is essential to the protection of the rights guaranteed by the Free Exercise Clause." 427: 439: 4106:, in which he said a claim for press privilege "should be judged on its facts by the striking of a proper balance between freedom of the press and the obligation of all citizens to give relevant testimony with respect to criminal conduct. The balance of these vital constitutional and societal interests on a case-by-case basis accords with the tried and traditional way of adjudicating such questions," has been frequently cited by lower courts since the decision. 451: 3003:(1931), found that because the provision of the New York law criminalizing "words" against the flag was unconstitutional, and the trial did not sufficiently demonstrate he had been convicted solely under the provisions not yet deemed unconstitutional, the conviction was unconstitutional. The Court, however, "resist the pulls to decide the constitutional issues involved in this case on a broader basis" and left the constitutionality of flag-burning unaddressed. 1783: 4143:

its powers in furtherance of the interest and prosperity of the petitioners and of their views on politically contentious matters." The right to petition the government for a redress of grievances therefore includes the right to communicate with government officials, lobbying government officials and petitioning the courts by filing lawsuits with a legal basis. The Petition Clause first came to prominence in the 1830s, when Congress established the

2062:(1997), the Court struck down the provisions of RFRA that forced state and local governments to provide protections exceeding those required by the First Amendment, on the grounds that while the Congress could enforce the Supreme Court's interpretation of a constitutional right, the Congress could not impose its own interpretation on states and localities. Congress can enact legislation to expand First Amendment free exercise rights through its 13658: 3979: 4041:(1974), the Court unanimously struck down a state law requiring newspapers criticizing political candidates to publish their responses. The state claimed the law had been passed to ensure journalistic responsibility. The Supreme Court found that freedom, but not responsibility, is mandated by the First Amendment and so it ruled that the government may not force newspapers to publish that which they do not desire to publish. 2518:, who had been convicted of aiding and abetting another in failing to register for the draft." Following his speech, Debs was charged and convicted under the Espionage Act. In upholding his conviction, the Court reasoned that although he had not spoken any words that posed a "clear and present danger", taken in context, the speech had a "natural tendency and a probable effect to obstruct the recruiting services". In 1660:(1984), the Supreme Court observed that the "concept of a "wall" of separation between church and state is a useful metaphor, but is not an accurate description of the practical aspects of the relationship that in fact exists. The Constitution does not require complete separation of church and state; it affirmatively mandates accommodation, not merely tolerance, of all religions, and forbids hostility toward any." 711: 9016:, 314 U.S. 252 (1941): "And, very recently we have also suggested that 'clear and present danger' is an appropriate guide in determining the constitutionality of restrictions upon expression ... What finally emerges from the 'clear and present danger' cases is a working principle that the substantive evil must be extremely serious, and the degree of imminence extremely high, before utterances can be punished." 4102:. The issue decided in the case was whether a journalist could refuse to "appear and testify before state and Federal grand juries" basing the refusal on the belief that such appearance and testimony "abridges the freedom of speech and press guaranteed by the First Amendment". The decision was that such a protection was not provided by the First Amendment. However, a concurring opinion by Justice 2543: 2192:

say as well as what not to say. The speech covered by the First Amendment covers many ways of expression and therefore protects what people say as well as how they express themselves. Free press means the right of individuals to express themselves through publication and dissemination of information, ideas, and opinions without interference, constraint, or prosecution by the government. In

943:, 319 U. S. 641. Certainly the "free exercise" clause does not require that everyone embrace the theology of some church or of some faith, or observe the religious practices of any majority or minority sect. The First Amendment, by its "establishment" clause, prevents, of course, the selection by government of an "official" church. Yet the ban plainly extends farther than that. We said in 12864: 12754: 10495: 10447: 10257: 666: 3761:... necessary for the preservation of peace and good order, of government and religion, the only solid foundations of civil liberty" and the argument that the need for a free press guaranteed by the Constitution outweighed the fear of what might be written. Consequently, very few changes were made in the first two centuries after the ratification of the First Amendment. 1144:(1878) the Supreme Court used these words to declare that "it may be accepted almost as an authoritative declaration of the scope and effect of the amendment thus secured. Congress was deprived of all legislative power over mere opinion, but was left free to reach actions which were in violation of social duties or subversive of good order." Quoting from Jefferson's 2128:"was not presumptively unconstitutional, because the state was neither criminalizing nor penalizing the study of theology." The Court ruled therefore that a state has a "substantial state interest" in denying funding a scholarship when it was going to be used for education in theology and when that state's constitution forbids state aid to religious institutions. In 2089:(2020) that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act's express remedies provision permits litigants, when appropriate, to obtain money damages against federal officials in their individual capacities. This decision is significant "not only for the plaintiffs but also for cases involving violations of religious rights more broadly." In the 1982 U.S. Supreme Court case 4085:(1991), the Supreme Court found that states may treat different types of the media differently, such as by taxing cable television, but not newspapers. The Court found that "differential taxation of speakers, even members of the press, does not implicate the First Amendment unless the tax is directed at, or presents the danger of suppressing, particular ideas." 3065:(2012), the Supreme Court struck down the Act, ruling that the First Amendment bars the government from punishing people for making false claims regarding military service or honors where the false claim was not "made to effect a fraud or secure moneys or other valuable considerations". The Supreme Court could not agree on a single rationale for its decision. 2124:(2004), the Court stated, "iven the historic and substantial state interest at issue, it cannot be concluded that the denial of funding for vocational religious instruction alone is inherently constitutionally suspect", explaining that denying funding a scholarship when it was going to be used for education in theology and when that state's constitution 1625:(1970) with respect to the separation of church and state: "No perfect or absolute separation is really possible; the very existence of the Religion Clauses is an involvement of sorts—one that seeks to mark boundaries to avoid excessive entanglement." He also coined the term "benevolent neutrality" as a combination of neutrality and accommodationism in 3622:(1969), the Court ruled that "f the First Amendment means anything, it means that a State has no business telling a man, sitting in his own house, what books he may read or what films he may watch." However, it is constitutionally permissible for the government to prevent the mailing or sale of obscene items, though they may be viewed only in private. 2234:(1964), "debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open." The Court further explained that just as erroneous statements must be protected to give freedom of expression the breathing space it needs to survive, so statements criticizing public policy and the implementation of it must be similarly protected. The Supreme Court in 1398:. The Supreme Court in the same case made it also clear that state governments and the federal government are prohibited from passing laws or imposing requirements which aid all religions as against non-believers, as well as aiding those religions based on a belief in the existence of God as against those religions founded on different beliefs. In 1300: 2198:(1943), the Supreme Court stated that "Freedom of press, freedom of speech, freedom of religion are in a preferred position". The Court added that a community may not suppress, or the state tax, the dissemination of views because they are unpopular, annoying, or distasteful. That would be a complete repudiation of the philosophy of the 781:

to write, or to publish their sentiments; and the freedom of the press, as one of the great bulwarks of liberty, shall be inviolable. The people shall not be restrained from peaceably assembling and consulting for their common good; nor from applying to the Legislature by petitions, or remonstrances, for redress of their grievances.

3309:(1969), the Supreme Court extended free speech rights to students in school. The case involved several students who were punished for wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam War. The Court ruled that the school could not restrict symbolic speech that did not "materially and substantially" interrupt school activities. Justice 2762:(2017) the Supreme Court noted that "the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment" contains "a bedrock First Amendment principle: Speech may not be banned on the ground that it expresses ideas that offend." The Court ruled that the government cannot ban expression merely because it is offensive. In the majority opinion, Justice 3768:(1964) fundamentally changed American defamation law. The case redefined the type of "malice" needed to sustain a libel case. Common law malice consisted of "ill-will" or "wickedness". Now, a public officials seeking to sustain a civil action against a tortfeasor needed to prove by "clear and convincing evidence" that there was 4211:... is not as to the auspices under which the meeting is held but as to its purpose; not as to the relations of the speakers, but whether their utterances transcend the bounds of the freedom of speech which the Constitution protects." The right of peaceable assembly was originally distinguished from the right to petition. In 3591:"Community" standards—not national standards—are applied to determine whether allegedly obscene material appeals to the prurient interest and is patently offensive. By contrast, the question whether a work lacks serious value depends upon "whether a reasonable person would find such value in the material, taken as a whole." 6444:

concerned about the dangers of establishment and less concerned to protect free exercise rights, particularly of religious minorities. Liberals, by contrast, have been opposed to any possibility of a religious establishment and they have been relatively more concerned to protect the free exercise rights of minorities.

2931:(2008), the Supreme Court declared the "Millionaire's Amendment" provisions of the BCRA to be unconstitutional. The Court held that easing BCRA restrictions for an opponent of a self-financing candidate spending at least $ 350,000 of his or her own money violated the freedom of speech of the self-financing candidate. 2824:(1960), the Court struck down a Los Angeles city ordinance that made it a crime to distribute anonymous pamphlets. Justice Hugo Black wrote in the majority opinion: "There can be no doubt that such an identification requirement would tend to restrict freedom to distribute information and thereby freedom of expression. 865:, which together form the religious liberty clauses of the First Amendment. The first clause prohibits any governmental "establishment of religion" and the second prohibits any governmental interference with "the free exercise thereof." These clauses of the First Amendment encompass "the two big arenas of religion in 1698:, the exertion of any restraint on the free exercise of religion. Its purpose is to secure religious liberty in the individual by prohibiting any invasions thereof by civil authority. "The door of the Free Exercise Clause stands tightly closed against any governmental regulation of religious beliefs as such, 1502:(1948) for a strict separation between state and church: "Separation means separation, not something less. Jefferson's metaphor in describing the relation between Church and State speaks of a 'wall of separation', not of a fine line easily overstepped. ... 'The great American principle of eternal separation'— 3750:

maintain public support of the government and true statements could damage this support even more than false ones. Instead, libel placed specific emphasis on the result of the publication. Libelous publications tended to "degrade and injure another person" or "bring him into contempt, hatred or ridicule".

1385:(2005) the Court explained that when the government acts with the ostensible and predominant purpose of advancing religion, then it violates that central Establishment Clause value of official religious neutrality, because there is no neutrality when the government's ostensible object is to take sides. 772:

where popular sentiment was against ratification (including Virginia, Massachusetts, and New York) successfully proposed that their state conventions both ratify the Constitution and call for the addition of a bill of rights. The U.S. Constitution was eventually ratified by all thirteen states. In the

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We have not discarded the 'common-sense' distinction between speech proposing a commercial transaction, which occurs in an area traditionally subject to government regulation, and other varieties of speech. To require a parity of constitutional protection for commercial and noncommercial speech alike

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Commercial speech is speech done on behalf of a company or individual for the purpose of making a profit. Unlike political speech, the Supreme Court does not afford commercial speech full protection under the First Amendment. To effectively distinguish commercial speech from other types of speech for

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wrote in the decision that "if there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea offensive or disagreeable." Congress then passed a federal law barring flag burning, but the Supreme Court

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The ability to publicly criticize even the most prominent politicians and leaders without fear of retaliation is part of the First Amendment, because political speech is core First Amendment speech. As the Supreme Court stated with respect to the judicial branch of the government exemplarily that the

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observes that, absent some common interpretations by jurists, the precise meaning of the Establishment Clause is unclear and that decisions by the United Supreme Court relating to the Establishment Clause often are by 5–4 votes. The Establishment Clause, however, reflects a widely held consensus that

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The civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship, nor shall any national religion be established, nor shall the full and equal rights of conscience be in any manner, or on any pretext, infringed. The people shall not be deprived or abridged of their right to speak,

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states: "Although a State would be "prohibiting the free exercise " in violation of the Clause if it sought to ban the performance of (or abstention from) physical acts solely because of their religious motivation, the Clause does not relieve an individual of the obligation to comply with a law that

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The Petition Clause protects the right "to petition the government for a redress of grievances". The right expanded over the years: "It is no longer confined to demands for 'a redress of grievances', in any accurate meaning of these words, but comprehends demands for an exercise by the government of

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According to the U.S. Supreme Court, the First Amendment's protection of free speech does not apply to obscene speech. Therefore, both the federal government and the states have tried to prohibit or otherwise restrict obscene speech, in particular the form that is now called pornography. As of 2019,

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from accessing various websites impermissibly restricted lawful speech in violation of the First Amendment. The Court held that "a fundamental principle of the First Amendment is that all persons have access to places where they can speak and listen, and then, after reflection, speak and listen once

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candidates to spend independently, but not both, which the Court agreed "placed an unconstitutional burden on the parties' right to make unlimited independent expenditures". The Court also ruled that the provision preventing minors from making political contributions was unconstitutional, relying on

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imposed a maximum sentence of twenty years for anyone who caused or attempted to cause "insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty in the military or naval forces of the United States". Specifically, the Espionage Act of 1917 states that if anyone allows any enemies to enter or fly over

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Just as the right to speak and the right to refrain from speaking are complementary components of a broader concept of individual freedom of mind, so also the individual's freedom to choose his own creed is the counterpart of his right to refrain from accepting the creed established by the majority.

3720:. For the first two hundred years of American jurisprudence, the basic substance of defamation law continued to resemble that existing in England at the time of the Revolution. An 1898 American legal textbook on defamation provides definitions of libel and slander nearly identical to those given by 3129:

employee to pay dues to a union of which he is not a member violated the First Amendment. According to the Court, "the First Amendment does not permit the government to compel a person to pay for another party's speech just because the government thinks that the speech furthers the interests of the

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of 1971 and related laws, which restricted the monetary contributions that may be made to political campaigns and expenditure by candidates. The Court affirmed the constitutionality of limits on campaign contributions, saying they "serve the basic governmental interest in safeguarding the integrity

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presided over sedition trials without indicating any reservations. The leading critics of the law, Vice President Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, argued for the Acts' unconstitutionality based on the First Amendment and other Constitutional provisions. Jefferson succeeded Adams as president, in

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The First Amendment broadly protects the rights of free speech and free press. Free speech means the free and public expression of opinions without censorship, interference, or restraint by the government. The term "freedom of speech" embedded in the First Amendment encompasses the decision what to

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For the constitution to be ratified, however, nine of the thirteen states were required to approve it in state conventions. Opposition to ratification ("Anti-Federalism") was partly based on the Constitution's lack of adequate guarantees for civil liberties. Supporters of the Constitution in states

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It is important to note that the First Amendment applies to many expressions, including verbal and non-verbal communication, written communication, sign language, body language, facial expressions, gestures, symbols, and images. This means that the First Amendment protects not just what we say but

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98 U. S. 145, 98 U. S. 166–167. The only decisions in which this Court has held that the First Amendment bars application of a neutral, generally applicable law to religiously motivated action are distinguished on the ground that they involved not the Free Exercise Clause alone, but that Clause in

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The right of the people peaceably to assemble for the purpose of petitioning Congress for a redress of grievances, or for anything else connected with the powers or duties of the National Government, is an attribute of national citizenship, and, as such, under protection of, and guaranteed by, the

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The free speech and free press clauses have been interpreted as providing the same protection to speakers as to writers, except for radio and television wireless broadcasting which have, for historical reasons, been given less constitutional protections. The Free Press Clause protects the right of

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test for obscenity was "whether to the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of the material, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest". This definition proved hard to apply, however, and in the following decade, members of the Court often reviewed

2007:(1990), which held no such interest was required under the Free Exercise Clause regarding a neutral law of general applicability that happens to affect a religious practice, as opposed to a law that targets a particular religious practice (which does require a compelling governmental interest). In 1689:

The acknowledgement of religious freedom as the first right protected in the Bill of Rights points toward the American founders' understanding of the importance of religion to human, social, and political flourishing. The First Amendment makes clear that it sought to protect "the free exercise" of

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We repeat and again reaffirm that neither a State nor the Federal Government can constitutionally force a person 'to profess a belief or disbelief in any religion.' Neither can it constitutionally pass laws or impose requirements which aid all religions as against non-believers, and neither can it

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Plainly, a community may not suppress, or the state tax, the dissemination of views because they are unpopular, annoying or distasteful. If that device were ever sanctioned, there would have been forged a ready instrument for the suppression of the faith which any minority cherishes but which does

768:—disagreed, arguing that existing state guarantees of civil liberties were sufficient and any attempt to enumerate individual rights risked the implication that other, unnamed rights were unprotected. After a brief debate, Mason's proposal was defeated by a unanimous vote of the state delegations. 5373:

Today, the religious roots of the American order and the role of religion in its continued success are poorly understood. One source of the confusion is the phrase "separation of church and state," a phrase used by President Thomas Jefferson in a widely misunderstood letter to the Danbury Baptist

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Content-based regulation of television and radio, however, have been sustained by the Supreme Court in various cases. Since there is a limited number of frequencies for non-cable television and radio stations, the government licenses them to various companies. However, the Supreme Court has ruled

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State constitutions provide free speech protections similar to those of the U.S. Constitution. In a few states, such as California, a state constitution has been interpreted as providing more comprehensive protections than the First Amendment. The Supreme Court has permitted states to extend such

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commented about this phraseology in a 1993 journal article: "I emphasize the word 'the' in the term 'the freedom of speech' because the definite article suggests that the draftsmen intended to immunize a previously identified category or subset of speech." Stevens said that, otherwise, the clause

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would be "prohibiting the free exercise " if it sought to ban such acts or abstentions only when they are engaged in for religious reasons, or only because of the religious belief that they display. It would doubtless be unconstitutional, for example, to ban the casting of "statues that are to be

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support not only from the interest in respecting the individual's freedom of conscience, but also from the conviction that religious beliefs worthy of respect are the product of free and voluntary choice by the faithful, and from recognition of the fact that the political interest in forestalling

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First Amendment Politics: At the risk of oversimplifying a very complicated situation, I suggest that conservative justices tend to favor a weak reading of both the Free Exercise and Establishment clause, while liberals tend to favor strong readings. That is, conservative justices have been less

4779:(Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2003). Madison also proposed a similar limitation upon the states, which was completely rejected: "No State shall violate the equal rights of conscience, or the freedom of the press, or the trial by jury in criminal cases." Madison, James. 4244:

the right of assembly was given a broad meaning, because the right of assembly can be used "for communication of views on national questions" as well as for "holding meetings and disseminating information whether for the organization of labor unions or for any other lawful purpose." In two 1960s

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An action of libel required the same five general points as slander, except that it specifically involved the publication of defamatory statements. For certain criminal charges of libel, such as seditious libel, the truth or falsity of the statements was immaterial, as such laws were intended to

2663:: "In each case must ask whether the gravity of the 'evil', discounted by its improbability, justifies such invasion of free speech as necessary to avoid the danger." Clearly, Vinson suggested, clear and present danger did not intimate "that before the Government may act, it must wait until the 1057:

or Judaism. But when the underlying principle has been examined in the crucible of litigation, the Court has unambiguously concluded that the individual freedom of conscience protected by the First Amendment embraces the right to select any religious faith or none at all. This conclusion derives

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Religious liberty, also known as freedom of religion, is "the right of all persons to believe, speak, and act – individually and in community with others, in private and in public – in accord with their understanding of ultimate truth." The acknowledgement of religious freedom as the first right

3839:'s first sexual experience had been with his mother in an outhouse. Since Falwell was a public figure, the Court ruled that "importance of the free flow of ideas and opinions on matters of public interest and concern" was the paramount concern, and reversed the judgement Falwell had won against 1134:. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties. 785:

This language was greatly condensed by Congress, and passed the House and Senate with almost no recorded debate, complicating future discussion of the Amendment's intent. Congress approved and submitted to the states for their ratification twelve articles of amendment on September 25, 1789. The

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explained: "We hold that the statute, as construed and applied to the appellants, deprives them of their liberty without due process of law in contravention of the Fourteenth Amendment. The fundamental concept of liberty embodied in that Amendment embraces the liberties guaranteed by the First

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in a concurrent opinion, wrote that "only governmental allegation and proof that publication must inevitably, directly, and immediately cause the occurrence of an evil kindred to imperiling the safety of a transport already at sea can support even the issuance of an interim restraining order."

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Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole

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Whatever differences may exist about interpretations of the First Amendment, there is practically universal agreement that a major purpose of that Amendment was to protect the free discussion of governmental affairs. This, of course, includes discussions of candidates, structures and forms of

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by national parties and the use of soft money by private organizations to fund certain advertisements related to elections. However, the Court struck down the "choice of expenditure" rule, which required that parties could either make coordinated expenditures for all its candidates, or permit

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Virtually all jurists agree that it would violate the Establishment Clause for the government to compel attendance or financial support of a religious institution as such, for the government to interfere with a religious organization's selection of clergy or religious doctrine; for religious

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The First Amendment's prohibition on an establishment of religion includes many things from prayer in widely varying government settings over financial aid for religious individuals and institutions to comment on religious questions. The Supreme Court stated in this context: "In these varied

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Actionable words, such as those imputing the injured party: is guilty of some offense, suffers from a contagious disease or psychological disorder, is unfit for public office because of moral failings or an inability to discharge his or her duties, or lacks integrity in profession, trade or

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that included the sentence "The freedom of the press is one of the greatest bulwarks of liberty, and can never be restrained but by despotic Governments." Eight of the other twelve states made similar pledges. However, these declarations were generally considered "mere admonitions to state

2686:(1957), the Supreme Court limited the Smith Act prosecutions to "advocacy of action" rather than "advocacy in the realm of ideas". Advocacy of abstract doctrine remained protected while speech explicitly inciting the forcible overthrow of the government was punishable under the Smith Act. 2310:: "If the First Amendment means anything, it means that a State has no business telling a man, sitting alone in his own house, what books he may read or what films he may watch. Our whole constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds." 2888:

of the electoral process without directly impinging upon the rights of individual citizens and candidates to engage in political debate and discussion." However, the Court overturned the spending limits, which it found imposed "substantial restraints on the quantity of political speech".

4594: (1977) (holding that in plurality opinions, the narrowest concurring opinion is the controlling opinion). In plurality opinions, a majority of Justices agree upon the proper disposition of the case, but “no single rationale explaining the result enjoys the assent of five justices.” 17752: 3951:

government, the manner in which government is operated or should be operated, and all such matters relating to political processes. The Constitution specifically selected the press, which includes not only newspapers, books, and magazines, but also humble leaflets and circulars, see

2392:(1964), the Court noted the importance of this public debate as a precedent in First Amendment law and ruled that the Acts had been unconstitutional: "Although the Sedition Act was never tested in this Court, the attack upon its validity has carried the day in the court of history." 3317:

First Amendment rights, applied in light of the special characteristics of the school environment, are available to teachers and students. It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse

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incidentally forbids (or requires) the performance of an act that his religious belief requires (or forbids) if the law is not specifically directed to religious practice and is otherwise constitutional as applied to those who engage in the specified act for nonreligious reasons.

3852:(1990), the Court ruled that the First Amendment offers no wholesale exception to defamation law for statements labeled "opinion", but instead that a statement must be provably false (falsifiable) before it can be the subject of a libel suit. Nonetheless, it has been argued that 1007:

and of the states to abridge the individual freedoms it protects. The First Amendment was adopted to curtail the power of Congress to interfere with the individual's freedom to believe, to worship, and to express himself in accordance with the dictates of his own conscience. The

637:—pre-publication censorship—in almost all cases. The Petition Clause protects the right to petition all branches and agencies of government for action. In addition to the right of assembly guaranteed by this clause, the Court has also ruled that the amendment implicitly protects 6204: 692: 14484: 2340:

The practice in America must be entitled to much more respect. In every state, probably, in the Union, the press has exerted a freedom in canvassing the merits and measures of public men, of every description, which has not been confined to the strict limits of the common

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The Free Exercise Clause offers a double protection, for it is a shield not only against outright prohibitions with respect to the free exercise of religion, but also against penalties on the free exercise of religion and against indirect governmental coercion. Relying on

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First Amendment freedoms are most in danger when the government seeks to control thought or to justify its laws for that impermissible end. The right to think is the beginning of freedom, and speech must be protected from the government because speech is the beginning of

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the Free Exercise Clause to the states. While the right to have religious beliefs is absolute, the freedom to act on such beliefs is not absolute. Religious freedom is a universal right of all human beings and all religions, providing for the free exercise of religion or

869:. Establishment cases deal with the Constitution's ban on Congress endorsing, promoting or becoming too involved with religion. Free exercise cases deal with Americans' rights to practice their faith." Both clauses sometimes compete with each other. The Supreme Court in 4283:(1984), the Court stated that "implicit in the right to engage in activities protected by the First Amendment" is "a corresponding right to associate with others in pursuit of a wide variety of political, social, economic, educational, religious, and cultural ends". In 2256:"Numerous holdings of this Court attest to the fact that the First Amendment does not literally mean that we "are guaranteed the right to express any thought, free from government censorship." This statement is subject to some qualifications, as for example those of 1831:

made clear that "the right of free exercise does not relieve an individual of the obligation to comply with a "valid and neutral law of general applicability on the ground that the law proscribes (or prescribes) conduct that his religion prescribes (or proscribes)."

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religious, political, and ideological causes must also guarantee the concomitant right to decline to foster such concepts. The right to speak and the right to refrain from speaking are complementary components of the broader concept of 'individual freedom of mind.'

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The Supreme Court of the United States characterized the rights of free speech and free press as fundamental personal rights and liberties and noted that the exercise of these rights lies at the foundation of free government by free men. The Supreme Court stated in

997:(1970), consists "of ensuring governmental neutrality in matters of religion." The history of the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause and the Supreme Court's own constitutional jurisprudence with respect to these clauses was explained in the 1985 case 2554:

The Supreme Court denied a number of Free Speech Clause claims throughout the 1920s, including the appeal of a labor organizer, Benjamin Gitlow, who had been convicted after distributing a manifesto calling for a "revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat". In

1479:, characterized the general tendency of the dissents as a weaker reading of the First Amendment; the dissents tend to be "less concerned about the dangers of establishment and less concerned to protect free exercise rights, particularly of religious minorities". 1825:(1890): "However free the exercise of religion may be, it must be subordinate to the criminal laws of the country, passed with reference to actions regarded by general consent as properly the subjects of punitive legislation." Furthermore, the Supreme Court in 1246:

settings, issues of about interpreting inexact Establishment Clause language, like difficult interpretative issues generally, arise from the tension of competing values, each constitutionally respectable, but none open to realization to the logical limit." The

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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

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decisions have fashioned the principle that the constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press do not allow a State to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force or law violation except where such advocacy is directed to inciting or producing

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wrote for the Court that "a function of free speech under our system is to invite dispute. It may indeed best serve its high purpose when it induces a condition of unrest, creates dissatisfaction with conditions as they are, or even stirs people to anger."

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Accommodationists, on the other hand, read the establishment clause as prohibiting Congress from declaring a national religion or preferring one to another, but laws do not have to be shorn of morality and history to be declared constitutional. They apply

4073:(1936), the Court invalidated a state tax on newspaper advertising revenues, holding that the role of the press in creating "informed public opinion" was vital. Similarly, some taxes that give preferential treatment to the press have been struck down. In 4230:'s opinion for the Court carefully distinguished the right to peaceably assemble as a secondary right, while the right to petition was labeled to be a primary right. Later cases, however, paid less attention to these distinctions. An example for this is 2770:

Speech that demeans on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, age, disability, or any other similar ground is hateful; but the proudest boast of our free speech jurisprudence is that we protect the freedom to express "the thought that we hate."

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of people to come together and collectively express, promote, pursue, and defend their collective or shared ideas. This right is equally important as those of free speech and free press, because, as observed by the Supreme Court of the United States in

2208:(1969), the Supreme Court stated that the First Amendment protects the right to receive information and ideas, regardless of their social worth, and to be generally free from governmental intrusions into one's privacy and control of one's own thoughts. 4604: 17808: 17475: 14874: 2327:

wrote: "The word 'the' can be read to mean what was understood at the time to be included in the concept of free speech." But what was understood at the time is not 100% clear. In the late 1790s, the lead author of the speech and press clauses,

1754:(2017) that religious observers are protected against unequal treatment by virtue of the Free Exercise Clause and laws which target the religious for "special disabilities" based on their "religious status" must be covered by the application of 4939: 15076: 14073: 3930:

stated in a concurring opinion in another case succinctly: "he purpose of the Constitution was not to erect the press into a privileged institution but to protect all persons in their right to print what they will as well as to utter it." In

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The 'establishment of religion' clause of the First Amendment means at least this: Neither a state nor the Federal Government can set up a church. Neither can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion to

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The free exercise of religion means, first and foremost, the right to believe and profess whatever religious doctrine one desires. Thus, the First Amendment obviously excludes all "governmental regulation of religious beliefs as such."

1871:

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defined material as obscene if it tended "to deprave or corrupt those whose minds are open to such immoral influences, and into whose hands a publication of this sort may fall". In the early twentieth century, literary works including

6200: 4315:(2021), the Court ruled that California's requiring disclosure of the identities of nonprofit companies' big-money donors did not serve a narrowly tailored government interest and, thus, violated those donors' First Amendment rights. 3189:(1942), the Court upheld a New York City ordinance forbidding the "distribution in the streets of commercial and business advertising matter", ruling the First Amendment protection of free speech did not include commercial speech. 2950:(1990), which had upheld a state law that prohibited corporations from using treasury funds to support or oppose candidates in elections did not violate the First or Fourteenth Amendments. The Court also overruled the portion of 786:

revised text of the third article became the First Amendment, because the last ten articles of the submitted 12 articles were ratified by the requisite number of states on December 15, 1791, and are now known collectively as the

1506:'s phrase bears repetition—is one of the vital reliances of our Constitutional system for assuring unities among our people stronger than our diversities. It is the Court's duty to enforce this principle in its full integrity." 2569:. Holmes and Brandeis dissented in several more cases in this decade, however, advancing the argument that the Free Speech Clause protected a far greater range of political speech than the Court had previously acknowledged. In 2144:

on the basis of a Blaine Amendment in that state's constitution, which the Court said is subject to the "strictest scrutiny" and can only survive if it is "narrowly tailored" to promote "interests of the highest order". Citing

1578:(2002), the opinion of the Court considered secular purpose and the absence of primary effect; a concurring opinion saw both cases as having treated entanglement as part of the primary purpose test. Further tests, such as the 17864: 4452:

recently wrote: "We begin with the proposition that the right of freedom of thought protected by the First Amendment against state action includes both the right to speak freely and the right to refrain from speaking at all.

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also noted an exception, allowing prior restraint in cases such as "publication of sailing dates of transports or the number or location of troops". This exception was a key point in another landmark case four decades later:

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the United States and obtain information from a place connected with the national defense, they will be punished. Hundreds of prosecutions followed. In 1919, the Supreme Court heard four appeals resulting from these cases:

14041: 6722:, 435 U. S. 618 (1978), for example, we invalidated a state law that disqualified members of the clergy from holding certain public offices, because it "impose special disabilities on the basis of ... religious status," 4674: 3024:, Texas. Charged with violating a Texas law prohibiting the vandalizing of venerated objects, Johnson was convicted, sentenced to one year in prison, and fined $ 2,000. The Supreme Court reversed his conviction. Justice 14594: 4222:

United States. The very idea of a government, republican in form, implies a right on the part of its citizens to meet peaceably for consultation in respect to public affairs and to petition for a redress of grievances.

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to post notices informing patients they can obtain free or low-cost abortions and include the number of the state agency that can connect the women with abortion providers violated those centers' right to free speech.

648:, there is a common misconception that it prohibits anyone from limiting free speech, including private, non-governmental entities. Moreover, the Supreme Court has determined that protection of speech is not absolute. 2306:(1969), the right to receive information and ideas, regardless of their social worth, and to be generally free from governmental intrusions into one's privacy and control of one's thoughts. As stated by the Court in 6895: 3868:

Despite the common misconception that the First Amendment prohibits anyone from limiting free speech, the text of the amendment prohibits only the federal government, the states and local governments from doing so.

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What is at issue is whether a State may completely suppress the dissemination of concededly truthful information about entirely lawful activity, fearful of that information's effect upon its disseminators and its

2637:, the bad tendency test was not explicitly overruled, and the clear and present danger test was not applied in several subsequent free speech cases involving incitement to violence. In 1940, Congress enacted the 17792: 16730: 2675:

The demands of free speech in a democratic society as well as the interest in national security are better served by candid and informed weighing of the competing interests, within the confines of the judicial

2641:, making it illegal to advocate "the propriety of overthrowing or destroying any government in the United States by force and violence". The statute provided law enforcement a tool to combat Communist leaders. 1264:

organizations or figures acting in a religious capacity to exercise governmental power; or for the government to extend benefits to some religious entities and not others without adequate secular justification.

1202:. Bancroft advised Waite to consult Jefferson and Waite then discovered the above quoted letter in a library after skimming through the index to Jefferson's collected works according to historian Don Drakeman. 17270: 5002: 963:

Those who would renegotiate the boundaries between church and state must therefore answer a difficult question: Why would we trade a system that has served us so well for one that has served others so poorly?

3809:(1985) the Court ruled that "actual malice" need not be shown in cases involving private individuals, holding that "n light of the reduced constitutional value of speech involving no matters of public concern 2997:. Street was arrested and charged with a New York state law making it a crime "publicly mutilate, deface, defile, or defy, trample upon, or cast contempt upon either by words or act ". The Court, relying on 2013:(1993), in which the meaning of "neutral law of general applicability" was elaborated by the court, the Supreme Court ruled Hialeah had passed an ordinance banning ritual slaughter, a practice central to the 17366: 17222: 14938: 14677: 14113: 2470:

had been convicted under the Espionage Act for publishing leaflets urging resistance to the draft. Schenck appealed, arguing that the Espionage Act violated the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment. In

10926: 6736:, concurring in judgment), and inequality results when a legislature decides that the governmental interests it seeks to advance are worthy of being pursued only against conduct with a religious motivation. 14129: 10918: 1205:

The Establishment Clause forbids federal, state, and local laws whose purpose is "an establishment of religion." The term "establishment" denoted in general direct aid to the church by the government. In

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State governments retain the right to tax newspapers, just as they may tax other commercial products. Generally, however, taxes that focus exclusively on newspapers have been found unconstitutional. In

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individuals to express themselves through publication and dissemination of information, ideas and opinions without interference, constraint or prosecution by the government. This right was described in

19342: 17832: 16778: 4947: 4704: 2109:, 205 F.2d 58, 61 (CA2 1953): "The First Amendment ... gives no one the right to insist that, in pursuit of their own interests others must conform their conduct to his own religious necessities." In 1858:"that laws affecting certain religious practices do not violate the right to free exercise of religion as long as the laws are neutral, generally applicable, and not motivated by animus to religion." 912:

The First Amendment commands government to have no interest in theology or ritual; it admonishes government to be interested in allowing religious freedom to flourish—whether the result is to produce

19126: 17688: 13648: 6177: 1654:, not public acknowledgements of God nor 'developing policies that encourage general religious beliefs that do not favor a particular sect and are consistent with the secular government's goals'. In 4253:

to statements made by private entities before public bodies: a monopolist may freely go before the city council and encourage the denial of its competitor's building permit without being subject to

3677:(1991). That statute did not prohibit publication of a memoir by a convicted criminal. Instead, it provided that all profits from the book were to be put in escrow for a time. The interest from the 991:

The First Amendment tolerates neither governmentally established religion nor governmental interference with religion. One of the central purposes of the First Amendment, the Supreme Court wrote in

18659: 17975: 17704: 17491: 15731: 1016:

imposes on the states the same limitations the First Amendment had always imposed on the Congress. This "elementary proposition of law" was confirmed and endorsed time and time again in cases like

20295: 3655:, ruling that prohibiting offers to provide and requests to obtain child pornography did not violate the First Amendment, even if a person charged under the Act did not possess child pornography. 17999: 17744: 16698: 15755: 12870: 12760: 10501: 10453: 10263: 4217:(1875), the first case in which the right to assembly was before the Supreme Court, the court broadly declared the outlines of the right of assembly and its connection to the right of petition: 19985: 19209: 17959: 17608: 16516: 4355: 2083:

RFRA secures Congress’ view of the right to free exercise under the First Amendment, and it provides a remedy to redress violations of that right. The Supreme Court decided in light of this in

1815:. Due to its nature as fundamental to the American founding and to the ordering of human society, it is rightly seen as a capricious right, i.e. universal, broad, and deep—though not absolute. 413: 337: 12219:, 501 U.S. 663 (1991) where the U.S. Supreme Court held that the press gets no special immunity from laws that apply to others, including those—such as copyright law—that target communication. 4173:

It is not necessary to say that the two Clauses are identical in their mandate or their purpose and effect to acknowledge that the rights of speech and petition share substantial common ground

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account was used to fund the New York State Crime Victims Board—an organization that pays the medical and related bills of victims of crime. Similar laws in other states remain unchallenged.

280: 675:

The hand-written copy of the proposed articles of amendment passed by Congress in 1789, cropped to show just the text in the third article that would later be ratified as the First Amendment

19803: 17712: 17696: 16002: 15136: 13950: 126: 6485:

Conservatives claim that liberals misinterpret the establishment and free exercise clauses of the First Amendment. They point to the opinion written for the Supreme Court by Hugo Black in

4207:... The holding of meetings for peaceable political action cannot be proscribed. Those who assist in the conduct of such meetings cannot be branded as criminals on that score. The question 1983:(1972), the Court ruled that a law which "unduly burdens the practice of religion" without a compelling interest, even though it might be "neutral on its face", would be unconstitutional. 20310: 19740: 17816: 17467: 16746: 16738: 16508: 4196:... is one that cannot be denied without violating those fundamental principles of liberty and justice which lie at the base of all civil and political institutions—principles which the 2228:(1966), a case involving the Constitutional shield around the speech of elected officials, the Supreme Court declared that the First Amendment central commitment is that, in the words of 20260: 19294: 19150: 17664: 17632: 17568: 17451: 16829: 16613: 14685: 14492: 14209: 13149: 12818: 10552: 10527: 10429: 10304: 5832: 4292: 3257: 3230: 3194: 2070:

struck down the Religious Freedom Restoration Act RFRA in so far as it applied to states and other local municipalities within them., so that partly in response to it 21 states enacted

1400: 3803:(1988), the Court found that, with regard to private individuals, the First Amendment does "not necessarily force any change in at least some features of the common-law landscape". In 1486:, which permitted New Jersey school boards to pay for transportation to parochial schools, the Court has used various tests to determine when the wall of separation has been breached. 19841: 14882: 13646: 2756:

wrote in the majority opinion that Cohen's jacket fell in the category of protected political speech despite the use of an expletive: "One man's vulgarity is another man's lyric." In

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that upheld such restrictions under the BCRA. In other words, the ruling was considered to hold that "political spending is a form of protected speech under the First Amendment".

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part due to the unpopularity of the latter's sedition prosecutions; he and his party quickly overturned the Acts and pardoned those imprisoned by them. In the majority opinion in

1164: 4640: 4201: 1804: 1490:

laid down the test that establishment existed when aid was given to religion, but that the transportation was justifiable because the benefit to the children was more important.

572: 20210: 19193: 17680: 15112: 14145: 14017: 4682: 1395: 4296:(1995), the Court ruled that a group may exclude people from membership if their presence would affect the group's ability to advocate a particular point of view. Likewise, in 3922:

including newspapers, books, plays, movies, and video games. While it is an open question whether people who blog or use social media are journalists entitled to protection by

2161:(2022) that the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment protects against “indirect coercion or penalties on the free exercise of religion, not just outright prohibitions.” 1460:(1878), when the Court reviewed the history of the early Republic in deciding the extent of the liberties of Mormons. Chief Justice Morrison Waite, who consulted the historian 19980: 19201: 19110: 17856: 17294: 17278: 17131: 17123: 16621: 14401: 6928: 5629: 875:(2005) clarified this by the following example: When the government spends money on the clergy, then it looks like establishing religion, but if the government cannot pay for 8070: 20927: 18819: 18111: 14826: 3373:(2007), the Court ruled that schools could restrict student speech at school-sponsored events, even events away from school grounds, if students promote "illegal drug use". 2609:, who had been convicted under the Slave Insurrection Statute for advocating black rule in the southern United States. The Court reversed Herndon's conviction, holding that 760:, a Constitutional Convention delegate and the drafter of Virginia's Declaration of Rights, proposed that the Constitution include a bill of rights listing and guaranteeing 6905: 2022: 1130:

American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof", thus building

20993: 20942: 17768: 17672: 17206: 16605: 16198: 9797: 7550: 5409: 2917: 20280: 2613:

had failed to demonstrate any "clear and present danger" in Herndon's political advocacy. The clear and present danger test was again invoked by the majority in the 1940

2278:

Attached to the core rights of free speech and free press are several peripheral rights that make these core rights more secure. The peripheral rights encompass not only

1404:(1994), the Court concluded that "government should not prefer one religion to another, or religion to irreligion." In a series of cases in the first decade of the 2000s— 19813: 19697: 19497: 19429: 14524: 20265: 13055: 6201:"The ACLJ Participates in Another Supreme Court Victory as the Court Upholds Coach Kennedy's Right to Pray after Football Games in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District" 5551: 879:, then many soldiers and sailors would be kept from the opportunity to exercise their chosen religions. The Supreme Court developed the preferred position doctrine. In 20963: 19683: 18712: 17063: 16629: 14193: 10602: 7426: 6724: 3107: 2908: 2795:(2017) affirmed the principle "that “the public expression of ideas may not be prohibited merely because the ideas are themselves offensive to some of their hearers.” 2693:, the Court's position on public criticism of the government changed drastically. Though the Court upheld a law prohibiting the forgery, mutilation, or destruction of 2076: 406: 272: 13647: 5010: 550: 20461: 19668: 19658: 18373: 16786: 16690: 2483:, writing for the Court, explained that "the question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a 2134:(2017), the Court ruled that denying a generally available public benefit on account of the religious nature of an institution violates the Free Exercise Clause. In 1110: 776:, following the state legislatures' request, James Madison proposed twenty constitutional amendments, and his proposed draft of the First Amendment read as follows: 257: 245: 20300: 7648: 2222:

embraces at the least the liberty to discuss publicly and truthfully all matters of public concern, without previous restraint or fear of subsequent punishment. In

19678: 19673: 19663: 19653: 16370: 15827: 15489: 14970: 12499: 9446: 4917: 4051: 2147: 1179:, while atop a hill in the background a statue labeled "Constitution" that states "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion" can be seen. 481: 267: 262: 252: 240: 2066:, but to do so "there must be a congruence and proportionality between the injury to be prevented or remedied and the means adopted to that end." The decision in 19633: 18392: 16902: 16894: 13450: 9381: 9012: 5352: 218: 13695: 8909: 3671:

to write memoirs about the murders he committed. The Supreme Court struck down a law of this type in New York as a violation of the First Amendment in the case

2619:

decision in which a state antipicketing law was invalidated. The importance of freedom of speech in the context of "clear and present danger" was emphasized in

19643: 19638: 19607: 19602: 17656: 17483: 16933: 16158: 15324: 14065: 13522: 7404: 5350: 4197: 2566: 1212:(1982) the Supreme Court stated that "the core rationale underlying the Establishment Clause is preventing 'a fusion of governmental and religious functions,' 1013: 230: 225: 203: 198: 12098: 5947: 4708: 19648: 19628: 19612: 18744: 18424: 18031: 18015: 17912: 16190: 14567: 14241: 13873: 13209: 13154: 13107: 13032: 12851: 12823: 12741: 12625: 12588: 12583: 12563: 12528: 12504: 12448: 12392: 12331: 12262: 12054: 12029: 11874: 11778: 11723: 11667: 11601: 11597: 11565: 11407: 11273: 11248: 11199: 11174: 11125: 11059: 11010: 10743: 10706: 10681: 10607: 10582: 10557: 10532: 10482: 10434: 10397: 10360: 10244: 10129: 10092: 10043: 9996: 9945: 9892: 9867: 9827: 9802: 9765: 9704: 9648: 9587: 9543: 9428: 9322: 9249: 9197: 9160: 9096: 8964: 8816: 8719: 8638: 8533: 7746: 7431: 7335: 7189: 7133: 7077: 7018: 6523: 6137: 6110: 6027: 5946:"In the words of Jefferson, the clause against establishment of religion by law was intended to erect "a wall of separation between church and State". from 5924: 5899: 5874: 5837: 4584: 3805: 3384:", a free speech policy statement designed to combat censorship on campus. This statement was later adopted by a number of top-ranked universities including 3079:

The Supreme Court has determined that the First Amendment also protects citizens from being compelled by the government to say or to pay for certain speech.

1363: 235: 213: 208: 10820: 6169: 3753:

Concerns that defamation under common law might be incompatible with the new republican form of government caused early American courts to struggle between

1562:

test has been criticized by justices and legal scholars, but it has remained the predominant means by which the Court enforced the Establishment Clause. In

20205: 19579: 19334: 19225: 18736: 18298: 18194: 17624: 15156: 14409: 14105: 12902: 12736: 5713:"Jefferson S. Dunn, Commissioner, Alabama Department of Corrections, Applicant v. Domineque Hakim Marcelle Ray on Application Number 18A815 to vacate stay" 5587: 4350: 4156: 3056: 188: 5470: 1291:... in the words of Jefferson, the clause against establishment of religion by law was intended to erect 'a wall of separation between church and State'. 20456: 19584: 19548: 19286: 19185: 18961: 18539: 17736: 17576: 17214: 16862: 15165: 14661: 14121: 12789: 1438: 933: 193: 166: 6255: 4503:

Burger explained the term "benevolent neutrality" with respect to the interplay of the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause in this way in

20860: 20290: 20185: 19553: 19533: 19523: 17395: 17262: 17055: 16573: 15795: 15031: 14954: 14249: 14137: 9051: 7795: 4456: 3084: 2902: 2130: 1750: 1744: 938: 171: 151: 141: 7374: 5439: 20988: 20983: 19995: 19563: 19558: 19543: 19538: 19528: 19366: 19233: 18047: 17967: 17038: 16500: 16418: 13889: 10170: 6073:

Kritzer, H. M.; Richards, M. J. (2003). "Jurisprudential Regimes and Supreme Court Decisionmaking: The Lemon Regime and Establishment Clause Cases".

5351:

Jennifer A. Marshall (Director of the Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society at The Heritage Foundation) (December 20, 2010).

3300: 1942:, abstaining from certain foods or certain modes of transportation. It would be true, we think (though no case of ours has involved the point), that 1381: 982: 871: 593: 181: 176: 161: 156: 146: 618:(1964). Commercial speech, however, is less protected by the First Amendment than political speech, and is therefore subject to greater regulation. 17107: 16837: 16166: 14350: 14097: 14081: 13921: 9643: 6683: 5167: 4081:

law exempting "religious, professional, trade and sports journals" from taxation since the law amounted to the regulation of newspaper content. In

3919: 2901:

of 2002 (BCRA), a federal law that imposed new restrictions on campaign financing. The Supreme Court upheld provisions which barred the raising of

2561:(1925), the Court upheld the conviction, but a majority also found that the First Amendment applied to state laws as well as federal laws, via the 2248:

The level of protections with respect to free speech and free press given by the First Amendment is not limitless. As stated in his concurrence in

1918: 5033: 20386: 19487: 19467: 19422: 19013: 18768: 18119: 15084: 14516: 7987: 392: 383: 116: 96: 4851: 4027:. The Court found that the Nixon administration had not met the heavy burden of proof required for prior restraint. Justice Brennan, drawing on 20871: 19477: 19472: 18346: 17648: 16274: 13942: 7184: 6008: 4232: 2936: 2009: 1530: 1268:

Originally, the First Amendment applied only to the federal government, and some states continued official state religions after ratification.

1224: 106: 101: 7957: 6415: 4192:, 299 U.S. 353, 364, 365 (1937), the right of peaceable assembly is "cognate to those of free speech and free press and is equally fundamental 3515:(1922), stating that works must be considered in their entirety, rather than declared obscene on the basis of an individual part of the work. 936:. This freedom plainly includes freedom from religion, with the right to believe, speak, write, publish and advocate anti-religious programs. 885:(1943) the Supreme Court stated that "Freedom of press, freedom of speech, freedom of religion are in a preferred position". The Court added: 20240: 19482: 19462: 19457: 18563: 17528: 16802: 15763: 14201: 4648: 1629:

to characterize a way to ensure that there is no conflict between the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause. Burger's successor,

111: 91: 86: 9966: 8258: 4045:

that the problem of scarcity does not allow the raising of a First Amendment issue. The government may restrain broadcasters, but only on a

3224:

could invite a dilution, simply by a leveling process, of the force of the Amendment's guarantee with respect to the latter kind of speech.

1710:, 367 U. S. 488; nor penalize or discriminate against individuals or groups because they hold religious views abhorrent to the authorities, 20678: 19730: 19053: 18969: 18651: 18218: 16994: 16378: 16065: 15875: 12934: 12704: 7931: 7603: 4825: 4375: 4311: 3826: 2855: 2522:, four Russian refugees appealed their conviction for throwing leaflets from a building in New York; the leaflets argued against President 474: 317: 12204:, 532 U.S. 514 (2001) where the U.S. Supreme Court "draw no distinction between the media respondents and" a non-institutional respondent. 6671:, 456 U. S. 228, 456 U. S. 245 (1982), or lend its power to one or the other side in controversies over religious authority or dogma, see 6344: 3326:... are possessed of fundamental rights which the State must respect, just as they themselves must respect their obligations to the State. 2491:, the court again upheld an Espionage Act conviction, this time that of a journalist who had criticized U.S. involvement in foreign wars. 1906:, 456 U. S. 228, 456 U. S. 245 (1982), or lend its power to one or the other side in controversies over religious authority or dogma, see 20391: 20190: 18862: 18400: 18253: 17760: 15883: 14978: 14374: 14366: 5712: 4417: 9849:"'Wholly foreign to the First Amendment': the demise of campaign finance's equalizing rationale in Davis v. Federal Election Commission" 7687: 7513: 7481: 3583:... the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law, and (c) 19926: 19452: 19415: 17848: 17584: 16957: 16762: 16754: 15819: 15811: 15803: 13865: 11402: 8475:

Dry, Murray. Civil Peace and the Quest for Truth: The First Amendment Freedoms in Political Philosophy and American Constitutionalism,

7991: 6457: 4873: 3673: 1222:

as well as the state governments are prohibited from establishing or sponsoring religion, because, as observed by the Supreme Court in

78: 43: 10845: 9490: 9354: 8692: 8143: 7876: 3790:

for libel, saying the advertisement damaged his reputation. The Supreme Court unanimously reversed the $ 500,000 judgment against the

3039:

to the U.S. Constitution has been proposed repeatedly in Congress since 1989, and in 2006 failed to pass the Senate by a single vote.

2707:

would interfere with the "smooth and efficient functioning" of the draft system, the next year, the court handed down its decision in

20165: 20135: 19921: 19886: 19866: 18555: 18457: 17951: 16878: 16706: 16354: 15715: 15683: 15039: 14257: 14089: 12257: 12017: 9940: 7834: 4726: 3896: 2959: 2136: 753: 568: 523: 349: 344: 327: 12148: 8261:. The First Amendment Encyclopedia presented by the John Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies. Archived from 7381:. The First Amendment Encyclopedia presented by the John Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies. Archived from 6938: 6347:. The First Amendment Encyclopedia presented by the John Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies. Archived from 6258:. The First Amendment Encyclopedia presented by the John Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies. Archived from 5621: 5558:. The First Amendment Encyclopedia presented by the John Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies. Archived from 5517: 5174:. The First Amendment Encyclopedia presented by the John Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies. Archived from 3367:(1988), the Court found that schools need not tolerate student speech that is inconsistent with their basic educational mission. In 1422:(2010)—the Court considered the issue of religious monuments on federal lands without reaching a majority reasoning on the subject. 69: 20170: 16410: 15579: 14559: 14425: 13805: 13587: 13014:"Competition and the Noerr-Pennington doctrine: When should political activity be barred under European community competition law?" 10794: 9760: 8078: 3908:

as "a fundamental personal right" that is not confined to newspapers and periodicals, but also embraces pamphlets and leaflets. In

3629: 3501: 3322:... chools may not be enclaves of totalitarianism. School officials do not possess absolute authority over their students. Students 2971:, combined respectively in a two-year period known as an "election cycle", violated the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment. 2893: 2870: 2071: 1861:

To accept any creed or the practice of any form of worship cannot be compelled by laws, because, as stated by the Supreme Court in

1475:, the Court adopted Jefferson's words. The Court has affirmed it often, with majority, but not unanimous, support. Warren Nord, in 799: 13260: 12986: 12960: 10330: 5685: 5133: 4277:(1958), that this freedom was protected by the amendment and that privacy of membership was an essential part of this freedom. In 3819:(1974), the Court ruled that a private individual had to prove malice only to be awarded punitive damages, not actual damages. In 20381: 18835: 18103: 18023: 17888: 17728: 16581: 15779: 13051:

Wayne Batchis, Citizens United and the Paradox of "Corporate Speech": From Freedom of Association to Freedom of The Association,

12443: 8339: 8284: 8017: 7905: 4395: 4037: 3813:... the state interest adequately supports awards of presumed and punitive damages—even absent a showing of 'actual malice'." In 3575:'the average person, applying contemporary community standards' would find the work, as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest 3451: 1695: 1219: 821: 507: 467: 11965: 11092: 10934: 4147:

barring anti-slavery petitions from being heard; the rule was overturned by Congress several years later. Petitions against the

534:

the government for redress of grievances. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, as one of the ten amendments that constitute the

20471: 20140: 20018: 19266: 18314: 18039: 18007: 17991: 17499: 17099: 17047: 17026: 16565: 15787: 15210: 14754: 9887: 5417: 4115: 3361:(1986), the Court ruled that a student could be punished for his sexual-innuendo-laced speech before a school assembly and, in 3098: 2946: 2846:

of 1938, under which several Canadian films were defined as "political propaganda", requiring their sponsors to be identified.

2170: 1845: 1145: 1114: 1094: 531: 519: 20155: 6322:

only selectively because 'e are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being' as Justice Douglas wrote in

2377:

of any federal law regarding the Free Speech Clause until the 20th century. For example, the Supreme Court never ruled on the

853:

points toward the American founders' understanding of the importance of religion to human, social, and political flourishing.

20978: 20693: 19783: 19778: 19705: 18870: 18202: 17932: 17246: 17115: 16463: 15747: 14898: 14417: 13958: 13432: 13385: 13357: 13329: 13298: 13229: 13174: 13072: 13052: 12657: 12413: 11798: 11743: 11688: 11633: 11427: 10764: 9582: 8700: 7451: 7231: 7154: 7098: 7042: 6655:, 322 U. S. 78, 322 U. S. 86–88 (1944), impose special disabilities on the basis of religious views or religious status, see 5559: 2830: 1890:, 322 U. S. 78, 322 U. S. 86–88 (1944), impose special disabilities on the basis of religious views or religious status, see 1678: 1313:, a Jesuit missionary in the left and colonists meeting the people of the Yaocomico branch of the Piscatawy Indian Nation in 1228:(1970), the 'establishment' of a religion historically implied sponsorship, financial support, and active involvement of the 1199: 1186:

was the first Supreme Court decision to use the metaphor "a wall of separation between Church and State." American historian

756:

in Philadelphia proposed a new constitution on September 17, 1787, featuring among other changes a stronger chief executive.

288: 9923: 6044: 20426: 20220: 19217: 18079: 18063: 17326: 17155: 17083: 15229: 15002: 14441: 14382: 13479:

The Sacred Rights of Conscience: Selected Readings on Religious Liberty and Church-State Relations in the American Founding

13423: 12469: 11376: 4385: 3337: 3089: 2927: 2174: 1602:(2022), the Lemon Test may have been replaced or complemented with a reference to historical practices and understandings. 1598: 1090: 597: 18994: 9669: 4266: 3219:(1978), the Court ruled that commercial speech was not protected by the First Amendment as much as other types of speech: 3168:

Alone, each indicium does not compel the conclusion that an instance of speech is commercial; however, "he combination of

2828:... Anonymous pamphlets, leaflets, brochures and even books have played an important role in the progress of mankind." In 20802: 20421: 20013: 19166: 18915: 18531: 17784: 16682: 16597: 16540: 16010: 15120: 14310: 12387: 11869: 10577: 9611: 9216: 7656: 5407: 4287:

the Court held that associations may not exclude people for reasons unrelated to the group's expression, such as gender.

4009: 3994: 3875: 3283: 3234:(1980), the Court clarified what analysis was required before the government could justify regulating commercial speech: 3132: 3017: 2748:(1971), the Court voted reversed the conviction of a man wearing a jacket reading "Fuck the Draft" in the corridors of a 2111: 1807: 1617:

that "e are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being." Furthermore, as observed by Chief Justice

1521:, aid seemed irrelevant. The Court ruled on the basis that a legitimate action both served a secular purpose and did not 1517: 1449: 1339: 1279: 1214: 9456: 7357:"The McCulloch theory of the Fourteenth Amendment: City of Boerne v. Flores and the original understanding of section 5" 5264:"Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38 (1985), at 50–51. Partially quoting from Wooley v. Maynard, 430 U.S. 705 (1977) at 714" 4909: 2534:

dissented, holding that the government had demonstrated no "clear and present danger" in the four's political advocacy.

1089:

Thomas Jefferson's tombstone. The inscription, as he stipulated, reads "Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the

20968: 20058: 18784: 18281: 16722: 15961: 15068: 14610: 14500: 13966: 13563: 13405:

The Law of Libel and Slander in Civil and Criminal Cases: As Administered in the Courts of the United States of America

12121: 10919:"Mandatory minimum drives US District Judge to countenance arguments for jury nullification in federal child porn case" 9064: 8916: 8871: 6673: 3389: 2097: 1908: 1768: 1062:

extends beyond intolerance among Christian sects – or even intolerance among "religions" – to encompass intolerance of

564: 361: 10983: 9397: 5469:. The First Amendment Encyclopedia presented by the John Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies. 5360: 2318:

The First Amendment bars Congress from "abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press". U.S. Supreme Court Justice

1771:

found that while laws cannot interfere with religious belief and opinions, laws can regulate religious practices like

1348:

aid those religions based on a belief in the existence of God as against those religions founded on different beliefs.

20401: 19763: 19438: 19318: 18547: 17358: 16886: 16714: 16227: 15928: 15739: 15414: 15103: 13761: 13731: 12247:, 376 U.S. at 286 (applying identical First Amendment protection to a newspaper defendant and individual defendants). 11268: 10278: 9034: 8899: 8885: 7702: 6429: 6303: 5673: 5521: 5466: 4610: 4056: 3958: 3887:, Massachusetts and Puerto Rico courts have adopted the doctrine; California's courts have repeatedly reaffirmed it. 3624: 3341: 2475:, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected Schenck's appeal and affirmed his conviction. Debate continued over whether 2219: 2045: 1647: 51: 11844: 3695: 1639:(1985), because he believed this metaphor was based on bad history and proved itself useless as a guide to judging. 20906: 20901: 20245: 19118: 18803: 17983: 17776: 17091: 16338: 15843: 14653: 13102: 12144: 12090: 11828: 11317: 10676: 7412: 4279: 3923: 3799: 3647: 3437: 3357: 1994: 1208: 621:

The Free Press Clause protects publication of information and opinions, and applies to a wide variety of media. In

31: 6531: 5242:"Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38 (1985), at 50. Quoting from Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U. S. 296 (1940) at 303" 4306:

to admit an openly gay member, to be an unconstitutional abridgment of the Boy Scouts' right to free association.

1674: 20250: 20235: 18776: 18365: 17824: 17174: 17002: 15891: 15707: 15619: 15260: 11773: 5003:"Religion: Religious conservatives hopeful new Supreme Court majority will redefine religious liberty precedents" 4325: 3848: 3533:

films individually in a court building screening room to determine if they should be considered obscene. Justice

2843: 629: 399: 356: 10221: 7850:"Opinion analysis: Court rules that religious schools cannot be excluded from state funding for private schools" 5595: 3463:(1896), the Supreme Court adopted the same obscenity standard as had been articulated in a famous British case, 1572:

test was converted to simply being a factor in determining the effect of the challenged statute or practice. In

542:. The first two articles did not pass, so the article on disestablishment and free speech ended up being first. 20657: 19390: 18704: 18696: 18627: 18598: 17552: 17427: 17302: 16105: 15457: 15390: 14994: 14922: 14286: 13982: 13768: 13738: 13615: 13532: 13464: 12846: 12524: 12233: 8960: 8938:, 395 U.S. 444 (1969), which some commentators view as a modified version of the clear and present danger test. 8528: 7713: 6471: 6022: 4565: 4165: 4069: 3701: 2898: 2749: 2729:. Now the Supreme Court referred to the right to speak openly of violent action and revolution in broad terms: 2667:

is about to be executed, the plans have been laid and the signal is awaited." In a concurring opinion, Justice

2621: 2388: 2270: 2236: 2230: 1728: 1498: 1131: 741: 699: 614: 12793: 10204: 3945:'s depiction of the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment to the US Constitution in Washington, D.C. 2925:

to BCRA, holding that issue ads may not be banned from the months preceding a primary or general election. In

2296:", i.e., the right to distribute, the right to receive, and the right to read, as well as freedom of inquiry, 20998: 20973: 20431: 20371: 19960: 19158: 18135: 17640: 17592: 17435: 17318: 17018: 16925: 16142: 15969: 14025: 13897: 13204: 11377:"Interview: Julie Hilden discusses laws and ethics surrounding the intellectual property rights of prisoners" 10911:"Federal Judge Advocates Jury Nullification After Being Shocked by Overzealous Child Pornography Prosecution" 10639: 6259: 4298: 4271:

Although the First Amendment does not explicitly mention freedom of association, the Supreme Court ruled, in

2922: 2884: 1990: 1333: 1274: 945: 803: 580: 5964: 3667:

prohibiting convicted criminals from publishing memoirs for profit. These laws were a response to offers to

20921: 20719: 20150: 20023: 19828: 19710: 19510: 19037: 18523: 18178: 16346: 16243: 16134: 16097: 15376: 14946: 13798: 11928:

Mulligan, Josh (2004). "Finding A Forum in the Simulated City: Mega Malls, Gated Towns, and the Promise of

7382: 7128: 6933: 6837: 6728:, 494 U. S., at 877. ... The Free Exercise Clause "protect religious observers against unequal treatment," 5591: 5443: 5408:

Mark Movsesian (Director of the Center for Law and Religion at St. John's University) (February 13, 2013).

5084: 4780: 4522: 4380: 3690: 3496: 3410: 3262: 2487:

that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent." One week later, in

2199: 2080:(2006), RFRA remains applicable to federal laws and so those laws must still have a "compelling interest." 2003: 1974: 1827: 1738: 1314: 1247: 891: 850: 787: 718: 535: 368: 295: 10305:"Opinion analysis: Divided court rules for anti-abortion pregnancy centers in challenge to California law" 10162: 5668:, p. 52, UPCC book collections on Project MUSE, Julia A. King, publisher, Univ. of Tennessee Press, 2012, 20935: 20839: 20797: 20792: 20195: 19881: 19846: 19278: 18924: 18760: 18720: 16965: 16394: 16290: 16041: 15635: 15562: 15449: 15398: 14890: 14433: 13598:

The Religious Roots of the First Amendment: Dissenting Protestants and the Separation of Church and State

12897: 11718: 11663: 9192: 9045: 4213: 4182: 4134: 3821: 3815: 3633: 3432: 2699: 2361:. Madison believed that legislation to be unconstitutional, and his adversaries in that dispute, such as 2264: 2091: 1834: 1105:

The precise meaning of the Establishment Clause can be traced back to the beginning of the 19th century.

12243:, 379 U.S. 64, 67–68 (1964) (applying Sullivan standard to statements by an elected district attorney); 11899:"Returning to the PruneYard: the unconstitutionality of state-sanctioned trespass in the name of speech" 7547:"Opinion analysis: Justices allow Muslim men placed on "no fly" list to sue FBI agents for money damage" 5175: 4415:

See for the topic First Amendment and state actor exemplarily the 2019 United States Supreme Court case

1716:, 345 U. S. 67; nor employ the taxing power to inhibit the dissemination of particular religious views, 1028:(1977). The central liberty that unifies the various clauses in the First Amendment is the individual's 20889: 20336: 20305: 20028: 19793: 19788: 18811: 18151: 17880: 16637: 16174: 15497: 15473: 13913: 13605: 5037: 4370: 3487: 3036: 2968: 2944:

were unconstitutional for violating the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment. The Court overruled

2772: 2463: 1394:(1961), the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution prohibits states and the federal government from 1256: 773: 733: 503: 13452:

Free Speech, "The People's Darling Privilege": Struggles for Freedom of Expression in American History

10927:"Nullifying Nullification: Will the Second Circuit Prohibit a Defendant's Jury Nullification Defense?" 7995: 7932:"freedom of speech In: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition, 2020" 2940:(2010), the Court ruled that the BCRA's federal restrictions on electoral advocacy by corporations or 20637: 20517: 20316: 20048: 19871: 19748: 19594: 19310: 18667: 18515: 18499: 16306: 15859: 15643: 14730: 13682: 12215: 12049: 6643:

supra, 374 U.S. at 374 U. S. 402. The government may not compel affirmation of religious belief, see

6348: 4847: 4530: 4246: 3953: 3910: 3273:, including the regulations thereunder, was not facially unconstitutional. The lax interpretation of 3093: 2994: 2510:, in which he spoke of "most loyal comrades were paying the penalty to the working class—these being 2480: 2449: 2411: 1878:

supra, 374 U.S. at 374 U. S. 402. The government may not compel affirmation of religious belief, see

1763: 1238: 1140: 993: 749: 737: 703: 373: 12174: 10910: 4236:(1939), where it was decided that the freedom of assembly covered by the First Amendment applies to 1969:

regarding such a refusal. The case involved Adele Sherbert, who was denied unemployment benefits by

20606: 20476: 20340: 20200: 20119: 19965: 19955: 19823: 19021: 18606: 17544: 17520: 17147: 16492: 16471: 16089: 15867: 15651: 15611: 15406: 15381: 15337: 15268: 15215: 14778: 14476: 14233: 13990: 13663: 13553: 10392: 10239: 10124: 7965: 7330: 6651: 4032:

Justices Black and Douglas went still further, writing that prior restraints were never justified.

3918:

defined "press" as "every sort of publication which affords a vehicle of information and opinion".

3393: 3185: 3061: 3031: 2484: 2437: 2415: 2401: 2300:, and freedom to teach. The United States Constitution protects, according to the Supreme Court in 2058: 1886: 1574: 1468:

by James Madison, who drafted the First Amendment; Madison used the metaphor of a "great barrier".

841: 12714: 12145:"The American Heritage Foundation's Guide to the Constitution: Freedom of Speech and of the Press" 3632:, holding that, because the act "rohibit child pornography that does not depict an actual child" ( 3088:(1943), the Court ruled that school children could not be punished for refusing either to say the 1922:, 426 U. S. 696, 426 U. S. 708–725 (1976). But the "exercise of religion" often involves not only 1586:, have been developed to determine whether a government action violated the Establishment Clause. 1175:

depicting an army of clergymen assaulting a fortress defended by newspaper editors including from

20396: 20344: 20270: 20098: 19975: 19970: 19906: 19876: 19818: 18728: 18688: 17411: 16645: 16235: 16219: 16182: 16033: 15936: 15542: 15441: 15357: 15316: 15284: 15253: 14770: 14746: 13791: 13377:

Americanization of the Common Law: The Impact of Legal Change on Massachusetts Society, 1760-1830

10282: 10038: 10032: 9092: 9004: 8929: 8262: 6421: 5894: 5356: 4821: 4539: 4094:(1972), the Court ruled that the First Amendment did not give a journalist the right to refuse a 3587:... the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. 3544: 3112: 2999: 2753: 2735: 2651: 2580: 2455: 2378: 2346: 2288: 2194: 1799: 1718: 1704:, 310 U. S. 296, 310 U. S. 303. Government may neither compel affirmation of a repugnant belief, 1700: 1534:(1970), the Court ruled that a legitimate action could not entangle government with religion. In 1412: 1352:

At the core of the Establishment Clause lays the core principle of denominational neutrality. In

1018: 881: 813: 808: 12938: 11959:

Empresas Puertorriqueñas de Desarrollo, Inc. v. Hermandad Independiente de Empleados Telefónicos

7935: 1855: 1541: 1242:(1970), which are "secular in purpose, evenhanded in operation, and neutral in primary impact". 557:, and many of its provisions were interpreted more narrowly than they are today. Beginning with 20559: 20078: 20003: 19950: 19901: 19725: 18643: 18095: 17068: 16266: 15571: 15550: 15526: 15332: 14810: 10877: 10701: 9862: 9155: 6810: 6663: 4579: 4330: 3709: 3613:(1990), ruling that the government's interest in protecting children from abuse was paramount. 3459: 3363: 3025: 2860: 2682: 2279: 1898: 1712: 1307: 1098: 1004: 973: 638: 554: 312: 6774: 6649:, 367 U. S. 488 (1961), punish the expression of religious doctrines it believes to be false, 6295: 6226: 5719: 5663: 4937: 2633:

Although the Court referred to the clear and present danger test in a few decisions following

1884:, 367 U. S. 488 (1961), punish the expression of religious doctrines it believes to be false, 1633:, called for the abandonment of the "wall of separation between church and State" metaphor in 1037:

At one time, it was thought that this right merely proscribed the preference of one Christian

908:

illustrated the broad protections offered by the First Amendment's religious liberty clauses:

20766: 20145: 20113: 19944: 19773: 19720: 18483: 18245: 17374: 15587: 15300: 15276: 15059: 14914: 13690: 13456: 13213: 13158: 13111: 13036: 12906: 12855: 12827: 12745: 12629: 12592: 12567: 12532: 12508: 12452: 12396: 12335: 12266: 12058: 12033: 11878: 11782: 11727: 11671: 11605: 11569: 11411: 11277: 11252: 11203: 11178: 11129: 11063: 11014: 11005: 10747: 10710: 10685: 10611: 10586: 10561: 10536: 10486: 10438: 10401: 10364: 10248: 10133: 10096: 10047: 10000: 9949: 9896: 9871: 9831: 9806: 9769: 9708: 9652: 9591: 9547: 9432: 9326: 9253: 9201: 9164: 9100: 8968: 8820: 8811: 8723: 8642: 8537: 8476: 7750: 7520: 7488: 7435: 7339: 7193: 7137: 7081: 7022: 6463: 6141: 6114: 6031: 5928: 5903: 5878: 5841: 5811:"McCreary County v. American Civil Liberties Union of Ky., 545 U.S. 844 (2005), at Part II A" 4776: 4588: 4303: 4148: 3783: 3520: 3377: 2587:", Brandeis wrote a dissent in which he argued for broader protections for political speech: 2571: 2443: 2431: 2258: 1986: 1816: 1373: (1982), that one religious denomination cannot be officially preferred over another. In 1367: 1059: 1003:. The Supreme Court noted at the outset that the First Amendment limits equally the power of 970: 305: 12283:"Pennekamp v. Florida, 328 U.S. 331 (1946), at 364. Concurring opinion by Felix Frankfurter" 8688:

Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime from the Sedition Act of 1798 to the War on Terrorism

4944:(1991) by the Council for the Advancement of Citizenship and the Center for Civic Education" 4877: 4035:

The courts have rarely treated content-based regulation of journalism with any sympathy. In

1430: 61: 20911: 20466: 20180: 20175: 20130: 20103: 20053: 19798: 17459: 17403: 17286: 16674: 16298: 16282: 16057: 15981: 15699: 15667: 14794: 14718: 14342: 14318: 14057: 13828: 13678: 12304: 11120: 9538: 9494: 9424: 9358: 7880: 7155:"Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith 484 U.S. 872 (1990)" 4977:"McCreary County v. American Civil Liberties Union of Ky., 545 U.S. 844 (2005), at Part IV" 4591: 4390: 4360: 4169:(2011), the Supreme Court stated regarding the Free Speech Clause and the Petition Clause: 3915: 3556: 3385: 2820: 2615: 2610: 2584: 2406: 2214: 1669: 1354: 1295:... That wall must be kept high and impregnable. We could not approve the slightest breach. 1080: 862: 858: 672: 515: 511: 431: 6748: 6170:"Kennedy v. Bremerton School District – A Sledgehammer to the Bedrock of Nonestablishment" 4722: 3742:

That the words are not subject to legal protection, such as those uttered in Congress; and

2989:(1969). In response to hearing an erroneous report of the murder of civil rights activist 8: 20894: 20683: 20411: 20275: 20063: 20008: 19911: 19768: 18932: 18903: 18843: 18338: 17840: 17560: 17254: 17238: 17182: 16434: 16330: 16049: 15603: 15595: 15481: 15352: 14586: 13998: 13783: 13699: 13175:"Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, And Bisexual Group of Boston 515 U.S. 557 (1995)" 12200: 11548: 11097: 9616: 9317: 9244: 8934: 6291: 5525: 5387:"Jefferson's Letter to the Danbury Baptists—The Final Letter, as Sent on January 1, 1802" 5107: 4365: 4119: 3779: 3652: 3477: 3397: 3013: 2963:(2014), the Court ruled that federal aggregate limits on how much a person can donate to 2744: 2709: 2576: 2323:

might absurdly immunize things like false testimony under oath. Like Stevens, journalist

2037: 1966: 1310: 1050: 900: 890:

not happen to be in favor. That would be a complete repudiation of the philosophy of the

854: 729: 527: 13584: 11331: 10765:"Uncertain Rights: Student Speech and Conflicting Interpretations of Morse v. Frederick" 6086: 2671:

proposed a "balancing test", which soon supplanted the "clear and present danger" test:

2345:

Madison wrote this in 1799, when he was in a dispute about the constitutionality of the

1930:

but the performance of (or abstention from) physical acts: assembling with others for a

1109:

wrote about the First Amendment and its restriction on Congress in an 1802 reply to the

20596: 20580: 20441: 20255: 20230: 20215: 20125: 20093: 20083: 20043: 20033: 19142: 19072: 18953: 18878: 18635: 18590: 18322: 18269: 18143: 18071: 17616: 17139: 17010: 16322: 16073: 15985: 15912: 15723: 15675: 15659: 15627: 15465: 15292: 15181: 14858: 14842: 14834: 14818: 14629: 14602: 14552:

Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church & State

14334: 14217: 14162:

Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church & State

13881: 13507: 13216: 13161: 13114: 13039: 12990: 12964: 12858: 12830: 12748: 12632: 12620: 12595: 12570: 12535: 12511: 12455: 12399: 12338: 12282: 12269: 12061: 12036: 11674: 11608: 11572: 11414: 11334:. Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School at Cornell University. May 19, 2008 11280: 11255: 11243: 11206: 11181: 11169: 11066: 11054: 11017: 10846:"Supreme Court strikes down North Carolina law banning sex offenders from social media" 10750: 10738: 10713: 10688: 10614: 10589: 10564: 10539: 10489: 10441: 10251: 10136: 10099: 10050: 10019: 10003: 9991: 9952: 9899: 9874: 9834: 9809: 9655: 9594: 9516: 9451: 9256: 9204: 9167: 9103: 9039: 8823: 8726: 8577: 8540: 8412: 8387: 8365: 8313: 8235: 8213: 8191: 8169: 8047: 7753: 7625: 7572: 7438: 7342: 7308: 7286: 7264: 7209: 7196: 7140: 7084: 7072: 7025: 7013: 6987: 6965: 6872: 6850: 6788: 6699: 6645: 6639: 6619: 6597: 6575: 6553: 6501: 6370: 5931: 5906: 5881: 5869: 5844: 5810: 5788: 5766: 5689: 5492: 5141: 5062: 4976: 4546: 4188: 4090: 3904: 3831: 3774: 3754: 3721: 3705:, requiring the demonstration of "actual malice" in libel suits against public figures. 3618: 3603: 3539: 3381: 3369: 3051:

has been a punishable offense under federal law since the early twentieth century, the

2985: 2797: 2786: 2704: 2646: 2626: 2562: 2557: 2527: 2511: 2302: 2297: 2204: 1979: 1957: 1880: 1874: 1863: 1706: 1635: 1614: 1564: 1406: 1390: 1370: 1327: 1029: 1009: 999: 977: 905: 876: 866: 817: 601: 559: 30:"First Amendment" redirects here. For the first amendments to other constitutions, see 12909: 11881: 11730: 11132: 10404: 10367: 9772: 9550: 9329: 8645: 8343: 8288: 8025: 7909: 6392: 5744: 5329: 5307: 5285: 5263: 5241: 5219: 5197: 3136:(1977), which had upheld legally obligating public sector employees to pay such dues. 2838:

statute that made it a crime to distribute anonymous campaign literature. However, in

2479:

went against the right to freedom of speech protected by the First Amendment. Justice

20916: 20662: 20647: 20627: 20501: 20376: 20355: 20327: 19931: 19758: 19350: 18752: 18491: 18127: 17904: 17511: 17338: 17190: 16949: 16914: 16589: 16455: 16402: 16386: 16113: 15835: 15771: 15691: 15534: 15432: 14669: 14294: 14225: 14185: 14049: 13857: 13849: 13611: 13559: 13528: 13491: 13460: 13428: 13381: 13353: 13325: 13294: 12326: 11962: 11941: 11785: 9711: 9389: 9030: 8971: 8912: 8895: 8881: 8867: 8696: 7038: 6467: 6425: 6299: 6154: 6105: 5669: 5665:

Archaeology, Narrative, and the Politics of the Past: The View from Southern Maryland

4641:"First Amendment constraints don't apply to private platforms, Supreme Court affirms" 4490: 4345: 4340: 3967: 3927: 3857: 3616:

Personal possession of obscene material in the home may not be prohibited by law. In

3594: 3145: 2668: 2374: 2365:, advocated the narrow freedom of speech that had existed in the English common law. 2319: 2184: 1839: 1656: 1630: 1610: 1536: 1493: 1456:. It had been long established in the decisions of the Supreme Court, beginning with 1375: 1024: 724:

The right to petition for redress of grievances was a principle included in the 1215

623: 19407: 13555:

Freedom of Expression: Resistance and Repression in the Age of Intellectual Property

11523: 4938:

Director Religious Freedom Education Project Charles C. Haynes (December 26, 2002).

3717: 3055:

criminalized the act of not only wearing, but also verbally claiming entitlement to

2140:(2020), the Court ruled that the Free Exercise Clause forbad a state from denying a 20538: 20285: 20160: 20088: 20073: 19808: 19753: 19715: 19326: 19029: 18408: 18290: 18237: 18186: 18170: 18055: 17943: 17753:

Ibanez v. Florida Dept. of Business and Professional Regulation, Bd. of Accountancy

17419: 17230: 16870: 16556: 16426: 16314: 16081: 15505: 15144: 15128: 14986: 14866: 14802: 14762: 14637: 14169: 13905: 13499: 13027: 11992: 10885: 10217: 10205:

Pub.L. 103-322, The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, § 320109

10087: 9699: 8435: 7309:"Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. Hialeah, 508 U.S. 520 (1993), at 542–543" 7210:"Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. Hialeah, 508 U.S. 520 (1993), at 531–547" 6718: 6657: 6100: 6082: 5919: 4335: 4273: 4023:, classified government documents about the Vietnam War secretly copied by analyst 3938: 3482: 3074: 3052: 3008: 2980: 2879: 2601: 2515: 2354: 2293: 2125: 2085: 1892: 1618: 1579: 1453: 1435: 1418: 1236:. The Establishment Clause thus serves to ensure laws, as said by Supreme Court in 1106: 589: 585: 300: 13237: 13182: 13080: 12665: 12421: 11984: 11806: 11751: 11696: 11641: 11435: 10772: 10762: 9220: 9068: 8684: 8111: 7459: 7239: 7162: 7106: 7050: 3524:(1957) that the First Amendment did not protect obscenity. It also ruled that the 2032: 1965:" standard when refusing to accommodate religiously motivated conduct. This meant 1085: 20823: 20771: 20652: 20611: 20522: 20446: 20350: 20332: 20068: 20038: 19896: 19302: 19045: 18571: 18507: 18469: 18330: 18261: 17920: 17443: 17350: 16973: 16810: 16794: 16770: 16022: 15994: 15952: 15920: 15364: 15308: 15047: 14786: 14738: 14693: 14645: 14460: 14326: 14302: 14265: 13591: 13474: 13403: 13375: 13347: 13319: 13288: 13059: 12000: 11969: 11372: 11194: 10192: 8686: 7961: 7770: 6896:"An epic Supreme Court showdown over religion and LGBTQ rights ends in a whimper" 6733: 6285: 4249:, the Court established that the right to petition prohibited the application of 4138:(1875) that the right of assembly was a secondary right to the right to petition. 4103: 4024: 4019: 3989: 3984: 3972: 3668: 3609: 3543:(1964), famously said that, although he could not precisely define pornography, " 3511: 3121: 2865: 2467: 2427: 2358: 2157: 1962: 1821: 1772: 1755: 1511: 1461: 1187: 1169: 837: 761: 686: 634: 546: 455: 12477: 11428:"Simon & Schuster v. Members of the New York State Crime Victims Board 1991" 11380: 5386: 4848:"The New United States of America Adopted the Bill of Rights: December 15, 1791" 4675:"The Google memo is a reminder that we generally don't have free speech at work" 3797:

While actual malice standard applies to public officials and public figures, in

3782:

had acted violently in suppressing the protests of African-Americans during the

20761: 20740: 20724: 20688: 20632: 20601: 20416: 19358: 18432: 18416: 17310: 17198: 17075: 15426: 15023: 14543: 14358: 14033: 13549: 13315: 13127: 10982:. Legal Information Institute, Cornell University Law School. August 19, 2010. 10935:"Defending a Court's Discretion To Allow Arguments for Conscientious Acquittal" 9677: 8021: 7742: 7287:"Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. Hialeah, 508 U.S. 520 (1993), at 539" 7265:"Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. Hialeah, 508 U.S. 520 (1993), at 534" 6132: 4996: 4994: 4227: 4129: 4124: 3961:

thoughtfully and deliberately selected to improve our society and keep it free.

3664: 3534: 3442: 3415: 3332: 3048: 2990: 2656: 2606: 2605:(1937), the Court heard the case of African American Communist Party organizer 2547: 2531: 2523: 2503: 2382: 2120: 1970: 1931: 1252: 1191: 538:. In the original draft of the Bill of Rights, what is now the First Amendment 9621: 8878:

The Constitution in the Supreme Court: The Second Century, 1888–1986, Volume 2

8048:"Riley v. National Federation of the Blind, 487 U.S. 781 (1988), at 796 – 797" 3739:

That the charge must be articulated to a third person, verbally or in writing;

3445:

wrote that while he could not precisely define pornography, he " it when it".

3238:

Is the expression protected by the First Amendment? Lawful? Misleading? Fraud?

2179: 20957: 20866: 20787: 20745: 20714: 20642: 20564: 20436: 20406: 20322: 20225: 19936: 19891: 16150: 15344: 15173: 13581:

The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation

13131: 13013: 12987:"Hague v. Committee for Industrial Organization, 307 U.S. 496 (1939), at 525" 12961:"Hague v. Committee for Industrial Organization, 307 U.S. 496 (1939), at 516" 11945: 11898: 11354: 9848: 9607: 9393: 8864:

The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation

7599: 6900: 6459:

Recasting Conservatism: Oakeshott, Strauss, and the Response to Postmodernism

6127: 5512: 5510: 4488:

The quote from Justice William O. Douglas comes from his majority opinion in

4449: 4250: 4237: 4014: 3836: 3769: 3492: 3419: 3202:

and ruled that commercial speech was entitled to First Amendment protection:

3126: 2642: 2498:, the Court elaborated on the "clear and present danger" test established in 2362: 2329: 2324: 2224: 1790: 1583: 1269: 1113:, a religious minority that was concerned about the dominant position of the 765: 714: 13073:"National Association for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama 1958" 11634:"Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. v. Greenmoss Builders, Inc. 472 U.S. 749 (1985)" 9564: 7356: 4991: 1041:

over another, but would not require equal respect for the conscience of the

19091: 18306: 18087: 17896: 17600: 16985: 16941: 16257: 14906: 14850: 13284: 11894: 10979: 9822: 9419: 5413: 4933: 4931: 4929: 4927: 4561: 4465: 4435: 4151:

resulted in imprisonments. The Supreme Court did not rule on either issue.

3468: 3288: 3180:... the conclusion that the properly characterized as commercial speech." 2791: 2763: 2758: 2660: 2507: 2102: 1651: 1125:

to the newly elected president about their concerns. Jefferson wrote back:

950: 829: 757: 695: 645: 633:(1971), the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment protected against 13772: 13742: 13707: 10859: 10821:"35 Universities Adopt 'The Chicago Statement' On Free Speech—1,606 To Go" 7717: 5545: 5543: 5507: 3636:) it was overly broad and unconstitutional under the First Amendment and: 3247:

Is the regulation more extensive than is necessary to serve that interest?

2332:, argued against narrowing this freedom to what had existed under English 2048:(RFRA), seeking to restore the compelling interest requirement applied in 2040:, and some churches in the U.S. take strong stances on political subjects. 20818: 20698: 19382: 18210: 15517: 13518: 12086: 9967:"Divided Court strikes down campaign contribution caps: In Plain English" 8892:

Fundamental Liberties of a Free People: Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly

7906:"Police Dept. of City of Chicago v. Mosley, 408 U.S. 92 (1972), at 95–96" 7809: 7703:"Free Exercise of Religion by Closely Held Corporations: Implications of 7368: 7366: 5993:, University of South Carolina Press, 2000; p. 149; Daniel L. Driesbach, 5036:. Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University. Archived from 4469: 4254: 3942: 3829:

in a ruling which protected parody, in this case a fake advertisement in

3725: 3561: 3506: 3266: 2941: 2690: 2423: 1948: 1939: 1118: 1067: 917: 913: 825: 725: 13666:

was created from a revision of this article dated 30 June 2006

13424:

Freedom for the Thought That We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment

11845:"The First Amendment doesn't guarantee you the rights you think it does" 10763:

Kozlowski, Dan V.; Bullard, Melissa E.; Deets, Kristen (April 1, 2009).

7764: 7762: 5581: 5579: 5577: 4924: 4564:

did not participate because he had ordered the prosecutions when he was

3935:(1943) the Supreme Court laid out the purpose of the free press clause: 3244:

Does the regulation directly advance the governmental interest asserted?

2014: 1923: 450: 20543: 18679: 18474: 17673:

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. Public Utilities Comm'n of California

16606:

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. Public Utilities Comm'n of California

15240: 12705:"Findlaw Annotation 21—First Amendment—Rights of assembly and petition" 10334: 10308: 10276: 9970: 9927: 9382:"Why the Slants Took a Fight Over Their Band Name to the Supreme Court" 8340:"Police Dept. of City of Chicago v. Mosley, 408 U.S. 92 (1972), at 103" 7854: 7652: 7482:"Tanzin v. Tanvir, 592 U.S. ___ (2020), Opinion of the Court at page 1" 6929:"What the Supreme Court Ruling on Foster Care Means for LGBTQ+ Parents" 5540: 4773:

The First Amendment in Schools: A Guide from the First Amendment Center

4356:

List of United States Supreme Court cases involving the First Amendment

4099: 3880: 3713: 3310: 2694: 2350: 2333: 2141: 1943: 1927: 1786: 1782: 1691: 1503: 1322: 605: 443: 13511: 9670:"Court Upholds Government Labeling Certain Foreign Films 'Propaganda'" 7363: 20451: 17721:

Peel v. Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of Illinois

15137:

Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania

13607:

Beyond the First Amendment: The Politics of Free Speech and Pluralism

7759: 7626:"Estate of Thornton v. Caldor, Inc., 472 U.S. 703 (1985) at page 710" 6554:"Abington School District v. Schempp, 374 U.S. 203 (1963) at 222-223" 5574: 3505:(1933), Judge John M. Woolsey established a new standard to evaluate 3351:

However, since 1969 the Court has also placed several limitations on

3006:

The ambiguity with regard to flag-burning statutes was eliminated in

2964: 2638: 2218:(1940) that the freedom of speech and of the press guaranteed by the 1973:

because she refused to work on Saturdays, something forbidden by her

1935: 1229: 553:. Initially, the First Amendment applied only to laws enacted by the 17633:

Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission

10528:

Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission

6851:"Employment Div. v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990), Syllabus at 872–872" 5995:

Thomas Jefferson and the Wall of Separation between Church and State

5652:

Thomas Jefferson and the Wall of Separation between Church and State

5134:"Walz v. Tax Comm'n of City of New York, 397 U.S. 664 (1970, at 669" 3231:

Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission

3164:

The disseminator is economically motivated to distribute the speech.

2017:

religion, while providing exceptions for some practices such as the

438: 19295:

Eastern Railroad Presidents Conference v. Noerr Motor Freight, Inc.

19151:

Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Group of Boston

16614:

Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Group of Boston

15245: 13503: 13150:

Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Group of Boston

12819:

Eastern Railroad Presidents Conference v. Noerr Motor Freight, Inc.

10553:

Posadas de Puerto Rico Associates v. Tourism Company of Puerto Rico

10430:

Virginia State Pharmacy Board v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council

7900: 7898: 5833:

Board of Education of Kiryas Joel Village School District v. Grumet

4517: 4293:

Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Group of Boston

4144: 4095: 4078: 3884: 3757:'s argument that the punishment of "dangerous or offensive writings 3258:

Posadas de Puerto Rico Associates v. Tourism Company of Puerto Rico

3195:

Virginia State Pharmacy Board v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council

2183:

Inscription of the First Amendment (December 15, 1791) in front of

1401:

Board of Education of Kiryas Joel Village School District v. Grumet

1282:

the Establishment Clause (i.e., made it apply against the states):

1259:. Against this background the National Constitution Center states: 1233: 921: 17689:

San Francisco Arts & Athletics, Inc. v. U.S. Olympic Committee

7700: 5686:"Abington School District v. Schempp, 374 U.S. 203 (1963), at 220" 4605:

Eastern Railroad presidents Conference v. Noerr Motor Freight, Inc

3978: 1650:, the Establishment Clause solely prevents the establishment of a 1551:

its principal or primary effect advanced or inhibited religion; or

957:

or give tax exemptions only to those whose children were baptized.

20486: 19916: 17665:

Zauderer v. Off. of Disciplinary Counsel of Supreme Court of Ohio

17569:

Virginia State Pharmacy Bd. v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council

16509:

Perry Education Association v. Perry Local Educators' Association

15852:

American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression v. Strickland

12709: 8106: 8104: 8102: 8100: 5440:"Religious liberty in public life: Establishment Clause overview" 4060: 2550:

wrote several dissents in the 1920s upholding free speech claims.

2283: 2018: 1272:, for example, was officially Congregational until the 1830s. In 1063: 1046: 1042: 954: 929: 925: 833: 17809:

Los Angeles Police Department v. United Reporting Publishing Co.

17476:

Heffron v. International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Inc.

14875:

Heffron v. International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Inc.

13762:"Freedom of Speech and Press: Exceptions to the First Amendment" 13732:"Freedom of Speech and Press: Exceptions to the First Amendment" 13708:"Freedom of Speech and Press: Exceptions to the First Amendment" 13574:

Church-State Relations in the Early American Republic, 1787–1846

9517:"Bridges v. California, 314 U.S. 252 (1941), at 263 and 270-271" 7895: 7519:. United States Supreme Court. December 10, 2020. Archived from 7487:. United States Supreme Court. December 10, 2020. Archived from 6598:"Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery, 485 U.S. 439 (1988), at 450" 5108:"McCreary County vs. American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky" 4302:(2000), the Court ruled that a New Jersey law, which forced the 3155:

The contents do "no more than propose a commercial transaction".

2659:

relied on Holmes' "clear and present danger" test as adapted by

2001:

The need for a compelling governmental interest was narrowed in

1947:

used for worship purposes," or to prohibit bowing down before a

710: 16739:

Board of Regents of the Univ. of Wisconsin System v. Southworth

16622:

Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic & Institutional Rights, Inc.

10331:"Opinion analysis: Court strikes down public-sector union fees" 9493:. Justia US Supreme Court Center. June 19, 2017. Archived from 9357:. Justia US Supreme Court Center. June 19, 2017. Archived from 8342:. Justia US Supreme Court Center. June 26, 1972. Archived from 8071:"How Would an Absolute First Amendment Benefit Modern Society?" 7908:. Justia US Supreme Court Center. June 26, 1972. Archived from 7879:. Justia US Supreme Court Center. June 21, 2022. Archived from 5965:"Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious AssessmentsPapers" 5688:. Justia US Supreme Court Center. June 17, 1963. Archived from 5493:"Larkin v. Grendel's Den, Inc., 459 U.S. 116 (1982) at 126-127" 3786:. The Montgomery Police Commissioner, L. B. Sullivan, sued the 3678: 3151:

purposes of litigation, the Court uses a list of four indicia:

3021: 2530:. The majority upheld their conviction, but Holmes and Justice 1776: 1682: 1554:

it fostered an excessive government entanglement with religion.

748:

After several years of comparatively weak government under the

17857:

Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Assn. v. Brentwood Academy

17367:

U.S. Civil Service Comm'n v. National Ass'n of Letter Carriers

17295:

Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Assn. v. Brentwood Academy

17279:

Brentwood Academy v. Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Assn.

17132:

Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Assn. v. Brentwood Academy

17124:

Brentwood Academy v. Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Assn.

14074:

Levitt v. Committee for Public Education and Religious Liberty

13558:. foreword by Lawrence Lessig. University of Minnesota Press. 12989:. Justia US Supreme Court Center. June 5, 1939. Archived from 12963:. Justia US Supreme Court Center. June 5, 1939. Archived from 8906:

Freedom of Expression in the Supreme Court: The Defining Cases

8097: 7934:. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Archived from 5585: 4903: 4901: 4899: 4897: 4895: 3211:... e conclude that the answer to this one is in the negative. 3102:(1940), which had upheld such punishments of school children. 27:

1791 amendment limiting government restriction of civil rights

17801:

Greater New Orleans Broadcasting Assn., Inc. v. United States

14827:

Gallagher v. Crown Kosher Super Market of Massachusetts, Inc.

14154:

Committee for Public Education and Religious Liberty v. Regan

13261:"Divided Court Invalidates California Donor Disclosure Rules" 8685:

Geoffrey R. Stone; Professor of Law Geoffrey R Stone (2004).

5353:"REPORT Religious Liberty: Why Does Religious Freedom Matter" 5140:. Justia US Supreme Court Center. May 4, 1970. Archived from 4725:. Cornell University Law School Legal Information Institute. 1054: 609: 19242:

Washington State Grange v. Washington State Republican Party

17537:

Pittsburgh Press Co. v. Pittsburgh Comm'n on Human Relations

16525:

International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Inc. v. Lee

16199:

City of Austin v. Reagan National Advertising of Austin, LLC

12883:

Jeremy McBride, Freedom of Association, in The Essentials of

11093:"The Origins of Justice Stewart's 'I Know It When I See It'" 9798:

Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc.

6253: 2983:

as a form of protest first came before the Supreme Court in

2918:

Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc.

2721:

discarded the "clear and present danger" test introduced in

2542: 2023:

the Court ruled that it needed to have a compelling interest

1596:

After the Supreme Court ruling in the coach praying case of

691: 19375:

BE and K Construction Co. v. National Labor Relations Board

17873:

Jerman v. Carlisle, McNellie, Rini, Kramer & Ulrich LPA

17681:

Posadas de Puerto Rico Assoc. v. Tourism Co. of Puerto Rico

14525:

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Juan v. Acevedo Feliciano

13484:

Daniel L. Dreisbach, Mark David Hall, and Jeffry Morrison.

12168: 12166: 11997:

Fashion Valley Mall, LLC, v. National Labor Relations Board

11467: 11465: 10163:"Amendment on Flag Burning Fails by One Vote in the Senate" 7514:"Tanzin v. Tanvir, 592 U.S. ___ (2020), Syllabus at page 1" 7232:"Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah 1993" 4892: 3825:(1988), the Court extended the "actual malice" standard to 3699:

Justice William J. Brennan Jr. wrote the landmark decision

3130:

person who does not want to pay." The Court also overruled

2891:

The court again scrutinized campaign finance regulation in

2835: 2064:

enforcement powers in Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment

1038: 18828:

Denver Area Ed. Telecommunications Consortium, Inc. v. FCC

18112:

Arizona Free Enterprise Club's Freedom Club PAC v. Bennett

16630:

National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra

15113:

Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União do Vegetal

14686:

Board of Ed. of Kiryas Joel Village School Dist. v. Grumet

14210:

Board of Ed. of Kiryas Joel Village School Dist. v. Grumet

14194:

Witters v. Washington Department of Services for the Blind

13813: 13321:

Plain, Honest Men: The Making of the American Constitution

10642:

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District

10603:

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District

8862:

Killian, Johnny H.; Costello, George; Thomas, Kenneth R.,

8366:"Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965), at 482–483" 6725:

Employment Div., Dept. of Human Resources of Ore. v. Smith

4781:"House of Representatives, Amendments to the Constitution" 3307:

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District

3108:

National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra

2909:

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District

764:. Other delegates—including future Bill of Rights drafter 13126: 12414:"New York Times Co. v. United States 403 U.S. 713 (1971)" 12091:"Justices Reject Ban on Violent Video Games for Children" 12020:(Forte and Spalding, eds., The Heritage Foundation 2014). 9447:"Justices Strike Down Law Banning Disparaging Trademarks" 8866:, Library of Congress, Government Printing Office, 2005, 7587: 5956: 567:

applied the First Amendment to states—a process known as

14971:

Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission

14402:

Lamb's Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free School Dist.

12887:... Human Rights, Hodder Arnold, London, 2005, pp. 18–20 12871: