![]() Some local officials have adopted a harsh stance on this form of expression. The style, which developed in prisons because inmates were not provided with belts, has become fashionable in certain communities. ![]() ![]() Various cities, for example, have begun cracking down on the so-called “baggy pants” trousers worn below the underwear. Infringements on First Amendment rights have reached such extremes that government officials are even attempting to dictate what we can and cannot wear. Also in our nation’s capital, a congressman’s wife was removed by police from President Bush’s 2006 State of the Union Address because her shirt proclaimed the message, “Support the Troops-Defending Our Freedom.” In Washington, D.C., a woman who opposed China’s practice of religious oppression was arrested for publicly protesting during an official government ceremony for Chinese President Hu Jintao. ![]() Secret Service has a manual for dealing with such dissenters, including removing those who want to act on their free speech rights from such events. They were later released without charge-unsurprising given that their only “crime” had been to express themselves-and the federal government later settled a lawsuit the Ranks initiated for $80,000. On July 4, 2004, Nicole and Jeffery Rank of Corpus Christi, Texas, were handcuffed and removed from a rally at the West Virginia state capitol, where President Bush was giving a speech, for refusing to cover their T-shirts which bore anti-Bush slogans. Meyer was tasered and then arrested by police when he refused to leave the microphone after his allotted time to ask his question-a question that Kerry stated he was prepared to answer. Despite the clear protections found in the First Amendment, the freedoms described therein are under constant assault, from school officials stripping students of their right to express their faith and local governments and police forbidding citizens from expressing unpopular views in public to members of the press being threatened with jail time for reporting on important government programs.įor instance, in September 2007, University of Florida student Andrew Meyer was brutally dealt with by police for exercising his First Amendment rights at a forum featuring Senator John Kerry. If our First Amendment protections are to remain intact, however, it will require courageous individuals who are willing to take a stand in defense of them. The freedom to speak one’s mind on issues of the day, exercise religious beliefs, remain educated through a free press, associate with others and petition the government when you have been wronged is just as important today as it was in 1791. These rights are still protected by the First Amendment. The government cannot dictate how we should act or what we should believe, especially when it comes to religion. It does so by guaranteeing every person the right to express any religious belief, or none at all, while at the same time prohibiting the government from favoring any particular religion over another. The First Amendment also includes the right to freely express one’s religion. Supreme Court, the First Amendment has become the fortress for protecting the “uninhibited, robust, and wide-open” discussion of controversial and often unpopular issues in public places. As a federal judge recognized, history has shown us that “pleasing speech is not the kind that needs protection.” According to the U.S. The First Amendment has come to symbolize the right of “a single minority of one” to express views that differ from those of the popular majority in the areas of speech, religion and expression. But they also knew that it is always the deadliest enemy of tyranny.” Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black wrote, “The Framers knew that free speech is the friend of change and revolution. As Benjamin Franklin proclaimed, “Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.” To protect this principle, the Founders established the freedoms of speech and the press in the First 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.”Īt the time of our nation’s inception, the Founders believed that the open, free exchange of ideas was necessary for the survival of a representative democracy. Amendment I: Freedom of Religion, Speech, Press, and Assembly
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