The First Amendment of the United States Constitution

The First Amendment of the United States Constitution is a clause established within the

United States Bill of Rights that regards freedoms for the citizens of the United States. The rights

included in the First Amendment include freedom of religion, expression, assembly, press and

the right to petition. 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 the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the

government for a redress of grievances.” The Bill of Rights with the addition of ten amendments,

including the First Amendment was adopted on December 15, 1971.

Among other founding principles, Freedom of Speech within the United States is the

most valued. The First Amendment only protects your speech from government censorship.

Though the First Amendment applies to all branches of government local, state, and federal in

prohibiting Congress from restricting an individual right to speak open and candidly some

speech is still punishable. The First Amendment does not offer the same protection within the

confines of private businesses, organizations, and individual speech. The government does not

impact private organizations from managing or limiting the speech of their employees, this can

lead to disciplinary actions to include termination for what could be deemed as inappropriate

speech, according to Bill of Rights.org. The parameters of what is considered protected speech

have often been blurred. The U.S. Supreme Court has struggled to determine what should be

constituted as freedom of expression under the First Amendment. There are many categories of

speech that have little to no protection under the First Amendment rights of citizens. They

include obscenity, fraud, child pornography, speech integral to illegal conduct, speech that
incites imminent lawless action, speech that violates intellectual property law, regulation of

commercial speech, and true threats. As the court’s interpretation of the First Amendment

changes, most of these cases involving freedom of speech are decided on a case-by-case basis. 

Bethel School District v. Fraser was a landmark case where it was decided that Bethel

High School officials did not violate the free speech rights of Matthew Fraser. (McGraw-Hill

Higher Education; 20th edition, 2017) In this case, a high school senior, Matthew Fraser, was

suspended after making a sexually suggestive speech while nominating another student for

student government. Though originally not considered profane, the speech which referenced

many sexual innuendos was deemed inappropriate in accordance with school policy. Fraser was

found to be in violation of multiple school policies including the use of offensive and lewd

language punishable by school personnel. The school code of conduct prohibits the “Expression

that would undermine the school's basic educational mission. Furthermore, prohibits the use of

vulgar and offensive gestures, language, conduct in public discourse which was done by Fraser's

speech in a school assembly.” (McGraw-Hill Higher Education; 20th edition, 2017) Fraser was

suspended for three days and banned from speaking at his high school graduation where he was

named a speaker. In turn, Fraser filed a lawsuit against the school’s administration claiming his

First Amendment rights were being violated. After several rulings in Fraser's favor, the school

appealed to the Supreme court. After hearing both sides, the Supreme court ruled in favor of

Bethel High School. In a 7-2 the Supreme court reversed the Court of Appeals' decision to

rescind the school’s suspension. It was decided that the school in no way violated Fraser’s First

Amendment rights and allowed the school’s suspension to stand. 

The First Amendment guarantees the freedom of religion in two clauses. The two clauses

built to maintain a wall between church and state are the “establishment” clause which prohibits
the government from establishing an official church, and the "free exercise" clause that allows

people to worship as they please. In 1971, the Supreme Court identified three factors that

identify whether or not a government practice violates the Establishment Clause: “First, the

statute must have a secular legislative purpose; second, its principal or primary effect must be

one that neither advances nor inhibits religion; finally, the statute must not foster an excessive

entanglement with religion.” (Learning to Give. Individual Rights and Community

Responsibilities, 2017) A landmark supreme court case involving the violation of this

amendment is Emerson v Board of Education where the court examined whether a New Jersey

law allowing reimbursements to parents who sent their children on buses operated by the public

transportation system to public and private schools, including parochial Catholic schools, was

indirect aid to religion and thus a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

“In a 5-4 decision, the Court ruled that the law was constitutional because the transportation

reimbursements were provided to all students regardless of religion. Also, the reimbursements

were made directly to parents and not to any religious institution. This case also applied the

Establishment Clause to the actions of state governments.” (United State Constitution, 2017) The

Founding Fathers of the U.S. Constitution mandated strict laws to support the separation of

religion and government, to ensure religious freedoms to all individuals. 

In regards to freedom of peaceably assemble in the United States, it is a human and

political right. It is a civil liberty for the citizens of the United States to petition the government

for redress of grievances. Under the First Amendment, anyone can gather and protest or picket

unless in violation of another person’s rights. If a group would like to gather and protest it must

be done in a way that does not disrupt anyone else’s daily life. The government can impose

restrictions on time, place, and manner assemblies are held as long as constitutional rights are
met. “Time, place, and manner restrictions are permissible so long as they are justified without

reference to the content of the regulated speech, . . . are narrowly tailored to serve a significant

governmental interest, and . . . leave open ample alternative channels for communication of the

information.” (United States Library of Congress, 2017). Ultimately, the Right to Assemble is of

utmost importance to the United States, it incorporates freedom of speech, by allowing citizens

to have a voice. It gives protection for people to freely associate for a common purpose or shared

morals. 

A monumental landmark case that broke precedent, under the First Amendment right for

peaceable assembly, is Edwards v. South Carolina where a Supreme Court overturned a breach

of peace conviction. 

In an 8-1 decision, the Supreme Court sided with 180 black students who were arrested while

marching to the state capital. Police stopped the demonstration in fear the large crowd of 200-

300 people would riot. The court deemed the state law unconstitutional, due to the restriction of

the student’s freedom of speech. Furthermore, the Court ruled that South Carolina had violated

the protestors’ First Amendment rights to peaceful expression, assembly, and petition. “The

Court emphasized that the protest had been peaceful and law-abiding. If…the petitioners had…

violated a law regulating traffic, or had disobeyed a law reasonably limiting the periods during

which the State House grounds were open to the public, this would be a different case.” Rather,

they had been arrested and convicted for expressing unpopular views. The evidence “showed no

more than that the opinions which they were peaceably expressing were sufficiently opposed to

the views of the majority of the community to attract a crowd and necessitate police protection.”

(Reed Bill of Rights, 1988).

 The First Amendment right of peaceful assembly is only provided if there are no clear

and present danger of riots, disruptions, daily traffic interferences on public streets, and no other

threat to public safety. If an assembly is using force or violence to accomplish illicit purposes,

then the government reserves the right to stop the demonstration. The right to peaceable

assembly provides the opportunity for all citizens, whether they are employed by the federal or

state government, by private businesses, or by nonprofit organizations, to participate in

America's political life and the electoral process.

In the case above the First Amendment has been a key component in the Civil Rights

movement. “The Civil Rights Movement was dedicated to activism for equal rights and

treatment of African Americans in the United States. People of the movement rallied for social,

legal, political, and cultural changes to prohibit discrimination and end segregation.” (Learning

to Give, The Civil Rights Movement, Roy, 2004). It enabled Civil Rights protestors to use

freedom of speech to fight for the unlawful segregation laws. It became the foundation of the

Civil Rights movement allowing minorities freedom of expression, petition, and assembly.

Without the protection of the First Amendment and its regard in the courts, the Civil Rights

movement may have stalled for a longer period of time. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of

many Civil Rights leaders, dismissing charges held in the violation of The First Amendment

Rights.  

In conclusion, The First Amendment is important to the United States. It is the way we have

established ourselves as a democratic free nation. Allowing Americans their human right to

develop and progress in any way they see fit. The ability to freely express bring changes to law

and exhibits change within societal limits. 

 Citation/Bibliography

Amar, Akhil Reed, The Bill of Rights: Creation and Reconstruction. New Haven: Yale

University Press, 1988.

McGraw-Hill Higher Education; Mass Media Law 20th edition, 2017

The Bill of Rights and Beyond, 1791-1991. Commission on the Bicentennial of the U.S.

Constitution, Library of Congress, 1991.

Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute. Index of/Constitution [online]. Available:

www.law.cornell.edu/constitution. (30 March 2001).

Learning to Give. Individual Rights and Community Responsibilities. Accessed 29 October

2017. https://www.learningtogive.org/resources/individual-rights-and-community-

responsibilities

The United States Senate. The United States Constitution Accessed 29 October 2017.

https://www.senate.gov/civics/constitution_item/constitution.htm