First Amendment Project

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First Amendment Project
Austin K. Raphael W. Wieland Academy
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The First Amendment Today
 
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The First Amendment Today
The 45 words of the First Amendment haven't
changed since their adoption in 1791. Yet they
are called upon to help guide a society that is
radically different from the one in which the
Founding Fathers lived. In this century, the
First Amendment has been stretched and
reinterpreted as the government has become
involved in nearly all spheres of expressive
activity -- campaign financing, federal funding
of the arts, and regulation of mass media, to
name but a few. In the following slides I will
show you some of the things that have shaped the
first amendment into what it is today.
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The Declaration of Independence
 
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The Declaration of Independence
The United States Declaration of Independence is
a statement adopted by the Continental Congress
on July 4, 1776, which announced that the
thirteen American colonies then at war with Great
Britain were now independent states, and thus no
longer a part of the British Empire. Written
primarily by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration is
a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on
July 2 to declare independence from Great
Britain, more than a year after the outbreak of
the American Revolutionary War. The birthday of
the United States of AmericaIndependence Dayis
celebrated on July 4, the day the wording of the
Declaration was approved by Congress.
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The Constitution of the United States of America
 
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The Constitution of the United States of America
The Constitution of the United States of America
is the supreme law of the United States. It is
the foundation and source of the legal authority
underlying the existence of the United States of
America and the federal government of the United
States. It provides the framework for the
organization of the United States government and
for the relationship of the federal government to
the states, to citizens, and to all people within
the United States.
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The First Amendment
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The First Amendment
The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United
States Constitution is part of the Bill of
Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any
law "respecting an establishment of religion",
impeding the free exercise of religion,
infringing on the freedom of speech, infringing
on the freedom of the press, interfering with the
right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the
petitioning for a governmental redress of
grievances. Originally, the First Amendment only
applied to the Congress. However, in the 20th
century, the Supreme Court held that the Due
Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment
applies the First Amendment to each state,
including any local government
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United States v. Cruikshank
United States v. Cruikshank, 92 U.S. 542 (1876)
was an important United States Supreme Court
decision in United States constitutional law, one
of the earliest to deal with the application of
the Bill of Rights to state governments following
the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment.
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Reynolds v. United States

• Reynolds v. United States, 98 U.S. 145 (1878),
  was a Supreme Court of the United States case
  that held that religious duty was not a suitable
  defense to a criminal indictment. George Reynolds
  was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of
  Latter-day Saints, charged with bigamy under the
  Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act after marrying Amelia
  Jane Schofield while still married to Mary Ann
  Tuddenham in Utah Territory.

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The Sedition Act of 1918

• The Sedition Act of 1918 was an Act of the United
  States Congress signed into law by President
  Woodrow Wilson on May 16, 1918. It forbade the
  use of "disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive
  language" about the United States government, its
  flag, or its armed forces or that caused others
  to view the American government or its
  institutions with contempt. The act also allowed
  the Postmaster General to refuse to deliver mail
  that met those same standards for punishable
  speech or opinion. It applied only to times "when
  the United States is in war."It was repealed on
  December 13, 1920.

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Schenck v. United States

• Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47 (1919), was
  a United States Supreme Court decision that
  upheld the Espionage Act of 1917 and concluded
  that a defendant did not have a First Amendment
  right to free speech against the draft during
  World War I. Charles Schenck was the Secretary of
  the Socialist party and was responsible for
  printing, distributing, and mailing 15,000
  leaflets to men eligible for the draft that
  advocated opposition to the draft. These leaflets
  contained statements such as "Do not submit to
  intimidation", "Assert your rights", "If you do
  not assert and support your rights, you are
  helping to deny or disparage rights which it is
  the solemn duty of all citizens and residents of
  the United States to retain." Ultimately, the
  case served as the founding of the "clear and
  present danger" rule.

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Scopes Trial

• The Scopes Trialformally known as Scopes vs. The
  State of Tennessee and informally known as the
  Scopes Monkey Trialwas an American legal case
  that tested the Butler Act which made it unlawful
  to teach any thoughts on the origin of man other
  than the Biblical account of mans origin. It was
  enacted as Tennessee Code Annotated Title 49
  (Education) Section 1922 . The law also prevented
  the teaching of the evolution of man from lower
  orders of animals in place of the Biblical
  account, in any Tennessee state-funded school and
  university.

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West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette

• West Virginia State Board of Education v.
  Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943), is a decision by
  the Supreme Court of the United States that held
  that the Free Speech Clause of the First
  Amendment to the United States Constitution
  protected students from being forced to salute
  the American flag and say the Pledge of
  Allegiance in school.

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New York Times Co. v. Sullivan

• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254
  (1964),1 was a United States Supreme Court case
  which established the actual malice standard
  which has to be met before press reports about
  public officials or public figures can be
  considered to be defamation and libel and hence
  allowed free reporting of the civil rights
  campaigns in the southern United States. It is
  one of the key decisions supporting the freedom
  of the press. The actual malice standard requires
  that the plaintiff in a defamation or libel case
  prove that the publisher of the statement in
  question knew that the statement was false or
  acted in reckless disregard of its truth or
  falsity. Because of the extremely high burden of
  proof on the plaintiff, and the difficulty in
  proving essentially what is inside a person's
  head, such caseswhen they involve public
  figuresrarely prevail.

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United States v. O'Brien

• United States v. O'Brien, 391 U.S. 367 (1968),
  was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United
  States, which ruled that a criminal prohibition
  against burning a draft card did not violate the
  First Amendment's guarantee of free speech.
  Though the Court recognized that O'Brien's
  conduct was expressive as a protest against the
  Vietnam War, it considered the law justified by a
  significant government interest that was
  unrelated to the suppression of speech and was
  tailored towards that end

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Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School
District

• Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School
  District, 393 U.S. 503 (1969) was a decision by
  the United States Supreme Court that defined the
  constitutional rights of students in U.S. public
  schools. The Tinker test is still used by courts
  today to determine whether a school's
  disciplinary actions violate students' First
  Amendment rights

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Texas v. Johnson

• Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989), was a
  landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the
  United States that invalidated prohibitions on
  desecrating the American flag in force in 48 of
  the 50 states. Justice William Brennan wrote for
  a five-justice majority in holding that the
  defendant's act of flag burning was protected
  speech under the First Amendment to the United
  States Constitution. Johnson was represented by
  attorneys David D. Cole and William Kunstler.

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Beussink v. Woodland R-IV School District

• Beussink v. Woodland R-IV School district, 30 F.
  Supp. 2d 1175 (E.D. Mo. 1998) is an important
  case in United States law regarding the First
  Amendment and its application in public schools.
  It was decided in the United States District
  Court for the Eastern District of Missouri,
  Southeastern Division.

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Morse v. Frederick

• Morse v. Frederick, 551 U.S. 393 (2007) was a
  school speech case in which the United States
  Supreme Court held that the First Amendment does
  not prevent educators from suppressing student
  speech, at a school-supervised event, that is
  reasonably viewed as promoting illegal drug use.

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United States v. Stevens

• United States v. Stevens, 559 U.S. (2010) was a
  decision by the Supreme Court of the United
  States, which ruled that 18 U.S.C. 48, a
  federal statute criminalizing the commercial
  production, sale, or possession of depictions of
  cruelty to animals, was an unconstitutional
  abridgment of the First Amendment right to
  freedom of speech.

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And now..

• On to the First Amendment in Our Community.

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Congress shall make no law respecting the
establishment of religion
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or prohibiting the free exercise thereof
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or abridging the freedom of speech
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or of the press
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or the right of the people peaceably to assemble
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and to petition the Government for a redress of
grievances
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Thanks for Watching!