Essay On First Amendment
The First Amendment is thought by many to be the most important of the Amendments. Under the First Amendment freedom various types of expression are protected. Just like a house of cards will topple if a card is removed, if one right of the amendment is removed, other rights will soon topple. For this reason many believe all parts of the First Amendment must be protect at all costs. In this essay, several different ideas will be discussed concerning the First Amendment. The first paragraph will go into detail about this Amendment. After explaining what the First Amendment protects, paragraph two will discuss how the Landmark case, Barnette v. West Virginia Board of Educations, affected the understanding of the First Amendment. After that,
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The case in question is Barnette v. West Virginia Board of Educations. This case focuses on the Freedom of Religion. Can schools force children to say the pledge of allegiance? Can a school expel a student if they refuse to salute the flag? Evidence provided by the defendant, a scripture, “You must not make for yourself a carved image or a form like anything that is in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth You must not bow down to them nor be enticed to serve them, for I, Jehovah your God, am a God who requires exclusive devotion, bringing punishment for the error of fathers upon sons, upon the third generation and upon the fourth generation of those who hate me”(New World Translation Exodus 20:4, 5), This was used as part of the Beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses, who believe that pledging allegiance to a flag is a form of idol worship. The prosecution brought up a past case of Gobitas v. Minersville, reasoning that this case had already decided it was constitutional to force the pledge of allegiance be done or face expulsion. The result of thisBarnette v. West Virginia Board of Education ruled it was unconstitutional to force a student to salute the flag and forcing a student to say the pledge of allegiance was a violation of the First Amendment. The impact of this ruling was a major gain for religious freedom. It opened the
The case in question is Barnette v. West Virginia Board of Educations. This case focuses on the Freedom of Religion. Can schools force children to say the pledge of allegiance? Can a school expel a student if they refuse to salute the flag? Evidence provided by the defendant, a scripture, “You must not make for yourself a carved image or a form like anything that is in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth You must not bow down to them nor be enticed to serve them, for I, Jehovah your God, am a God who requires exclusive devotion, bringing punishment for the error of fathers upon sons, upon the third generation and upon the fourth generation of those who hate me”(New World Translation Exodus 20:4, 5), This was used as part of the Beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses, who believe that pledging allegiance to a flag is a form of idol worship. The prosecution brought up a past case of Gobitas v. Minersville, reasoning that this case had already decided it was constitutional to force the pledge of allegiance be done or face expulsion. The result of thisBarnette v. West Virginia Board of Education ruled it was unconstitutional to force a student to salute the flag and forcing a student to say the pledge of allegiance was a violation of the First Amendment. The impact of this ruling was a major gain for religious freedom. It opened the