First Principles

1
First Principles

• The principles of the 1st Amendment to the
  American Constitution

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1st Amendment

• 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.

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Principle 1

• The First Amendment affirms the freedom of the
  Individual.
• Born with certain rights/ freedoms
• Government does not GIVE us our rights- it
  PROTECTS our rights
• Freedom of speech and thought
• Freedom to worship or not to worship
• Freedom to join groups or lobby government with
  our grievances of government

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Principle 2

• Free expression is the foundation or cornerstone
  of democracy
• People can freely share information so that they
  are informed and able to make sound judgments
  about what leaders to elect and laws to enact.

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Principle 3

• The First Amendment tells the government to keep
  its hands off our religion, our ideas, and our
  ability to express ourselves.
• Congress shall make no law means that our
  government may not interfere with our freedoms,
  however the 1st amendment is not absolute
• No law does not mean absolutely no law, but
  that the content of the religion cannot be
  regulated- but the practices can.

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Principle 4

• Other people have rights too
• All humans have these rights- so if a person has
  a viewpoint or religion that is unpopular they
  have the right to voice that opinion also

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Principle 5

• When rights collide government must balance them
• When two rights collide, tension and controversy
  may result. What happens, for example, when a
  person's right to a fair trial conflicts with our
  right to learn if a fair trial is actually taking
  place through accounts reported in our free
  press?

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1st Amendment in schools

• Public school administrators are government
  officials and, like city officials, have both
  power and limits regarding regulation of
  expression. Although students do not give up
  their First Amendment rights when they come to
  school, the United States Supreme Court has
  determined that school officials may restrict
  students rights if the administrators determine
  that exercising those rights would interfere with
  the schools mission of educating its students.

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Principle 6

• The First Amendment helps us make choices
• marketplace of ideas concept
• We get to choose which ideas we believe
• The antidote to distasteful or hateful speech is
  not censorship, but more speech.
• www.freedomforum.org