Assess The Importance Of The First Amendment

In 1787 our founding fathers assembled the constitution of the United States of America. Of this which contains the most important document to the American citizen, the Bill of rights. The first Amendment states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances” These freedoms granted by the Bill of Rights are often known as freedom of expression. These rights are most important to a truly free society. The first amendment provides us with new ideas and dismisses the fear of punishment

In Derek Bok’s, Protecting Freedom of Expression On The Campus, he brings light to the issue of censorship in universities. He states that students at Harvard University got offended after a few students displayed the confederate flag. There have been many cases in which people have tried to censor offensive material however; the Supreme Court preferred to conserve the freedom of expression. He believes that if censorship starts to take place, it will be difficult to know when to cross the line. In addition, it will not fix the initial problem since the offenders will continue to abuse others using different means. To him the best solution to this problem is, to encourage students to ignore the obnoxious behavior, thus leading them to stop.

Based on the first amendment which states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”. We the citizens of the United States have the freedom to choose and practice our religion, freedom of speech, freedom of press and freedom of petition. Although this amendment seems to be beneficial for the general public it actually does more harm than good. I do not believe that there is in fact a such thing as freedom. Freedom means the power to act, speak or think as one warns without hindrance or restraint. In today’s society we don’t not have freedom because of laws.

The First Amendment saves people's everyday speech rights. In fact, according to Ala.org in 1989,”This case presented the question of whether the First Amendment prevents a school board from removing a previously approved textbook from an elective high school class because of objections to the material's vulgarity and sexual explicitness.” A schools text book was to sexual and had vulgar refrences and the svhool thought the highschoolers did not need to read it. The school didn't the the book needed to be at the school and they are allowed to take away the textbook. The freedom of speech allowed the textbook to be added to the school in the first

Censorship in America can vary between the silencing of young voices and the prevention of exposing others of inappropriate material. Many people are afraid of losing their freedom of speech, as first amendment rights should be mandatory for American citizens. Polar to this argument insists the importance of censorship, as it can shield the public from information that can lead to fear or chaos. Leaving students ignorant to world problems, however, is argued by Sonja West that it removes their first amendment rights and creates a future working-class of Americans who are clouded from the truth. West is a law professor at the University of Georgia who is distinguished for her expertise in the first amendment law and minor in journalism. In her article, “Censorship 101,” West crafts her text through numerous court case experience and skill in rhetorical devices as her background expertise is used to her advantage.

The First Amendment is the most important, because of freedom of religion and freedom of speech. Many people think that the fourth amendment is the most important. They think this, because it is important for a person to be able to tell policemen “No” if they ask you if they could search your car or your house. I believe that the fourth amendment is really important, but you wouldn’t be able to tell the policemen “No” if you didn’t have freedom of speech.George Washington said,”If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be, like sheep to the slaughter” (“Famous Quotes Freedom of Speech”).Without freedom of speech and religion we are nothing.

As seen in previous cases like Tinker vs. Des Moines, students have the right to political say, unless it causes disruption at school of students are promoting something that goes against the law. In the case of Tinker v Des Moines the students were not promoting anything illegal but showed their thought on the Vietnam War by wearing black armbands (Tinker). Argued in court by Kenneth W. Starr in the Morse v. Frederick case, he gave the idea that the foundation for school censorship was the case of Tinker v. Des Moines (Morse). The Justices responded back saying, that case was a different scenario as the students weren 't doing anything against the law while Frederick was encouraging the use of marijuana which was illegal (Morse).

This paper will discuss how censorship denies citizens of the United States our full rights as delineated in the First Amendment. It will outline how and why the first amendment was created and included in the Constitution of the United States of America. This paper will also define censorship, discuss a select few legal cases surrounding freedom of speech and censorship as well as provide national and local examples of censorship.

A temporary injunction was issued, barring school districts from applying the “rule”. The state Attorney General appealed the decision to the state Supreme Court.

The First Amendment states many of the freedoms a US citizen posses, banning/censorship of books however has violated this idea of freedom. Some authors dislike the idea of censorship of books, such as Ellen Hopkins. Hopkins is a successful writer who wrote a bestselling book called, Crank. She also wrote the poem Manifesto which was adopted as the official manifesto of the American Library Association banned books week back in 2009. Crank was a book that was banned and censored, which Hopkins disliked. She shared her thoughts on this dispute, “If you don 't like the content in a book, don 't read it. If you don 't want your child to read a book, take it away. But you do not have the right to decide “appropriateness” for everyone” (Hopkins

In the “Bethel School District v. Fraser” case, Fraser believed that the school violated his first amendment “freedom of speech” rights. Fraser gave a speech with some inappropriate content in it and the school gave him a three day suspension because two teachers warned him before he gave the speech. Fraser took it to court and the justices said they would shorten the suspension and let him have his right to speak at graduation because the school was taking away his freedom of speech.

Censorship has been a topic of debate for decades. Despite the existence of the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech, the United States has a long history of censoring literature. Most Americans believe that it is unethical to stifle freedom of expression, but often some of the First Amendment’s biggest supporters are its worst enemies. It shocks many to see how rampant it still is in the present day. This paper will show examples of how governments, religious institutions, and schools try to limit first amendment rights through censorship.

"The first amendment, which gives people the freedom of religion, press, and speech, is something taken for granted by Americans. Throughout history, free speech has been both limited and stretched by the government. The first amendment, which gives people the freedom of religion, press, and speech, is something taken for granted by Americans. Thus, the government should have the ability to monitor and control the government, but only to the extent of protecting the country against potential threats.

The First Amendment, Freedom of Speech could probably be considered the most powerful amendments of the Constitution. If we didn’t have this right, many of our ideas and beliefs would not be real today. All American citizens have the right to talk about what’s on their minds and say what they believe in. As Derek Bok mentions in his essay and unfortunately for people who disagree, With the Supreme Court’s rulings, the demonstration of these flags clearly falls within the protection of the free-speech clause of the First Amendment and that they can in no way be banned merely because they may seem offensive or may someone else’s feelings. “These rulings apply to all agencies of government, including public universities”.

The first amendment of the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment guarantees against the government invading key personal freedoms that are the freedom of religion, the freedom of the press, free expression, freedom of association, and the freedom of assembly. Without the first amendment religious minorities could be prosecuted, the government could establish a national religion, protestors could be silenced, the press would not be allowed to criticize the government