Irene Ryan V. United States Case Study

The first amendment in the Bill of Rights 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.” In the case Irene Ryan v. United States, understanding the first amendment, specifically what has been considered protected speech by the supreme court under this amendment, is important in deciding whether Section 3 of Senator Buddy Ebsen’s National Registration and Identification Act. The first amendment was put into place when the bill of rights was adopted into the United States constitution, which protected fundamental rights of the people from the government. The text, although somewhat vague, was a
United States which had three sections. The first section required American citizens and residents above the age of 16 to obtain an NRI card. Section 2 of the act stated that anyone who wanted to qualify for federally funded benefits must have an NRI card in order to obtain these benefits. Section 3 of the National Registration and Identification Act stated specifically that “Any attempt to counterfeit, alter, or destroy any NRI card, or the encouragement of others to commit these acts shall be punishable by up to three years in a federal penitentiary and a fine of up to 15,000. This act was put into place in order to reduce the amount of fraud and financial strain on the social welfare system. Irene Ryan, a director of a privacy group opposing the NRI act, publicly burned her NRI card at an anti NRI Act rally, and urged others to follow in her footsteps and burn their cards as well. In the hypothetical case of Irene Ryan v. United States, Irene Ryan was arrested for violating Section 3 of the National Registration and Identification