The First Amendment is the cornerstone of American democracy and the primary protector of the freedoms Americans enjoy. While some might argue that there should be no restrictions on the First Amendment‚ the First Amendment should be restricted in order to promote public safety and ensure the smooth functioning of society‚ and those limitations should be narrowly crafted and explicitly defined by the Supreme Court. A person has the right to voice his or her opinion on a matter‚ regardless of what
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Essential Restrictions on the First Amendment Limitations on freedoms of society are crucial‚ especially in America. As Roger Rosenblatt noted in his essay‚ “We Are Free to Be You‚ Me‚ Stupid and Dead‚” many people express their freedom of speech in very offensive and controversial ways. Often their expressions violate other amendments and freedoms as well. A few examples given by Rosenblatt included acts of freedom of speech performed by professional sports players. Many believe these were
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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." The first amendment was written by James Madison‚ who was nicknamed “The Father of the Constitution.” In the first amendment‚ Madison wrote about 5 freedoms‚ which are the freedom of speech‚ press
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According to the textbook‚ “several key restrictions limit our ability to speak or publish opinions under certain circumstances” (page 124). This means that even though under the First Amendment we have the freedom of speech‚ there are limitations to this freedom. One of the types of speech that is restricted and not protected that the author of the textbook mentions is speech that incites “a criminal act‚ ‘fighting words‚’ and genuine threats” (page 124). This means that if anyone is to say or publish
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of the amendments I believe like most people the first ten amendments known as the bill of rights are by far the most important. The first 10 amendments state the rights of the people‚ also known as the general public. The bill of rights was written in 1791 by James Madison to protect the individual rights from the government. And out of these 10 amendments I would have to say that the first amendment is the most important. This is what made the United States of America different and gave our founding
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The First Amendment is part of the Bill of Rights‚ which is in the United States Constitution. The First Amendment basically states that the government may not interfere with our freedom of speech and the press‚ the right to a peaceful assembly‚ and the right to petition the government for redress of grievances (Bond and Smith‚ Pg. 132). With this Amendment it gives and protects our vocals as individuals and as a nation‚ so is there any backlash this brings? What good comes from this? Many pros
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exactly why our Constitution was created back in 1787‚ and is still enforced to this very day. Inside the texts of the Constitution‚ lies fundamental principles that govern this nation‚ and protect the people from an overpowered government‚ such as the Amendments. There are twenty-one amendments‚ the first ten being adopted and ratified‚ into what we know as the Bill of Rights. From these amendments‚ the very first one in my opinion‚ is one of the most significant. The first amendment is prevalent
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The social and political activist Abbie Hoffman once said “Free speech means the right to shout “theatre” in a crowed fire.” What Hoffman said explains exactly what having Freedom of speech is like. Freedom of speech is something every American is granted‚ yet many who do in fact speak their mind are ridiculed. Freedom of Speech is one of the many perks that an American has besides having individual liberty. Instead of using Freedom of Speech to help others around the world who do not have it‚ many
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The first and inarguably the most significant of the amendments to our Constitution is the First Amendment. The amendment that established our freedoms as citizens of our new confederation. The 1st Amendment insured‚ among other things‚ freedom of speech and of the press. The freedoms here are sometimes overlooked‚ and disrespected. The freedom of speech is shorted when it takes away from other rights that each citizen is already guaranteed‚ like for an example the right to privacy. Without this
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must carefully analyze and interpret the amendments to the Constitution and apply them. The first Amendment 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.” One controversial case involving the rules of the First Amendment was Snyder v. Phelps in 2010. The Supreme
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