Understanding the First Amendment
Rights of Freedom of Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, Petition
The First Amendment is actually a complex and multifaceted one, chock full of rights upon which all the other protections in the Bill of Rights rest. The best way to help students understand it, is to break it down and to make it personally meaningful.
What the First Amendment Says
“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 protects the rights most cherished by American citizens: freedom of religion, of speech, of the press, of assembly and of petition. It is the first -- and often considered the most vital -- of the first ten amendments to our Constitution known collectively as the Bill of Rights.
Yet it evokes as much ambivalence and misunderstanding as devotion.
Public Views about the First Amendment
According to the First Amendment Center report "State of the First Amendment 2007":
- 56% believe that freedom to worship extends to all religious groups, no matter how extreme – down from 72% in 2000.
- 58% of Americans would prevent protests during a funeral procession, even on public streets and sidewalks;
- 74% would prevent public school students from wearing a T-shirt with a slogan that might offend others.
- 34% (lowest since survey results in 1997) believe the press "has too much freedom," but 60% of Americans disagree with the statement that the press tries to report the news without bias
- 25% said "the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees," below the 49% recorded in the 2002 survey that followed the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, but up from 18% in 2006.
"Americans clearly have mixed views of what First Amendment freedoms are and to whom they should fully apply," said Gene Policinski, vice president and executive director of the First Amendment Center, in summarizing the report. "To me the results of this year's survey endorse the idea of more and better education for young people – our nation's future leaders –about our basic freedoms."
What The First Amendment Covers
The First Amendment names five very specific rights:
- Religion
- Speech
- Press
- Assembly
- Petition
But within those five rights lie countless nuances of everyday life. Religious liberty includes not only protection from a state religion, but freedom to practice your own religion, or not to practice any religion. It includes understanding the place of religion in daily life, in schools, in public buildings, in public office. Discussions about religious liberty encompass everything from school choice to prisoner’s rights.
Similarly, freedom of speech and of the press run the gamut of issues ranging from school newspapers and student rights to hate speech, internet rights, art, parody and satire, adult entertainment, advertising issues, flag burning, and banned books at the library.
How it All Ties Together
And each right hinges on the other. The right to assemble or petition the government means little without the right to free speech and freedom of the press. Religious liberty is meaningless without freedom of speech and assembly.
Together, the five rights of the First Amendment anchor the entire Bill of Rights, and create an interdependent web of freedoms upon which the entire Constitution rests.
