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The First Amendment

However, following the case of Marbury v. Madison in 1803, the Supreme Court had claimed that authority by setting the precedent of declaring a practice unconstitutional. This precedent gave the judiciary authority to interpret Constitutional Law and determining what was allowed according to the Constitution and its Amendments and what did not. This would be important in the evolution of the meaning of the First Amendment, especially the part dealing with Freedom of Speech.
             Shortly after the Constitution's inception in 1789, Freedom of Speech was most commonly meant to be political discourse and commentary because the British had attempted to deprive the early Americans of this right when they controlled the former colonies. As Americans became more secure in their freedom the extent of Freedom of Speech became more widely debated and is still debated to this day in many public forums as well as in the courts of the United States.
             The protection granted by Freedom of Speech have some limitations and restrictions. These limitations and/or restrictions include that Freedom of Speech does not cover speech that encourages and incites others to violence, violates public safety or infringes upon the rights of others. A classic example of First Amendment limitations would be if a person yelled "FIRE!" in a crowded movie theater when there is none. This would cause panic and cause injuries and/or fatalities because many would frantically try to escape. There is also the stating of falsehood with the intent of damaging someone's reputation. This is known as slander. These instances of malicious conduct are criminal behavior and NOT covered by First Amendment Rights.
             As previously mentioned, these limitations and/or restrictions on free speech rights are determined by the judiciary branch of the United States government. This directly influences how the First Amendment evolves and is viewed by the legal community and the general public.


Essays Related to The First Amendment

1. AMENDMENT 19

The amendment that I chose to do my report on is the 19th amendment. This amendment guaranteed the voting right to all of the American woman. The victory of this amendment took decades to be passed. In August of 1995 marked the 75th anniversary of the ratification of this amendment. This amendment was ratified on August 24,1920. The first three states to approve this amendment were Illinois Wisconsin and Michigan. When this amendment was first put out into the society ... the men and people ... ...

  • Word Count: 353
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2. Equality, Unity and the Reconstruction Period

... it ultimately was a failure to African Americans. This nonfulfillment can best be depicted through the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments. The first amendment passed towards African Americans was the thirteenth amendment. This amendment would ensure freedom of blacks by ending the institution of slavery. Although sounding very promising this amendment would not uphold completely. Following the civil war freed men were without money and farmers were without workers, this issue ... would result in the uprising of the sharecropping and crop-lien systems. Through these systems...

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3. Let's Keep the 2nd Amendment

... nation that it is today. In spite of the clarity of this amendment, we have seen, repeatedly, the attacks and efforts to "infringe" on this individual freedom.  Over the past two years, anti-gun politicians throughout the country have tried to turn law-abiding citizens into criminals. The image located on the first page of this paper depicts that we should stand by America's original ... platform and support this country and the decisions we have ... made to protect it. Having Uncle Sam on the poster not only portrays "America", but also the patriotism and support America needs to suc...

  • Word Count: 1796
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4. The 6th Amendment

... for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense." America needed the sixth amendment during this period of time, which were the late 1,700's. During this time, Federalists and Anti-Federalists argued over the need for the Bill of Rights. According to the dictionary, The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments to the US Constitution, ratified in 1791 and guaranteeing such ... rights as the freedoms of speech, assembly, and worship. While federalists ... ...

  • Word Count: 768
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5. The Second Amendment

... States Constitution states: "A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." This amendment was adapted to the Bill of Rights in 1791, and the controversy over this amendment has lasted many years. The first gun control issues started in 1715 when Maryland passed a law banning African American slaves from carrying a gun unless ... they had a permit. After the Civil War, Maryland adopted a law to prohibit any "freeman, free negro or ... ...

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6. Gun Control and the Right to Bear Arms

... . On December 15 1791, Virginia ratified the Bill of Rights making it, with the second amendment, part of the constitution. According to the Bill of rights, "The second amendment to the U.S. Constitution states, A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed" (Carey). When the U.S. Constitution was first written in 1787, some delegates thought Militia ... was military forces because the Federal Government had its own army to protect the people. The second amendment was made in response to th...

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7. The National Security Agency (NSA) and the Bill Of Rights

... par. 15). The reason, why the NSA does not inform the collection of personal data to American citizens, is that the NSA cannot operate without secrecy. If the NSA exposes everything it does, the NSA cannot work as an intelligence agency. In conclusion, there are two arguments considering whether or not the NSA surveillance has broken the Fourth Amendment. The first group claims that the Fourth Amendment is obviously broken by the NSA because ... people have a right to secure their information. The second group argues that the NSA surveillance has not broken the Fourth Amendment because ...

  • Word Count: 775
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8. The 15th Amendment

... for quite some time. In more recent years there have been laws put into effect because of, and to strengthen the 15th Amendment, like the Voting Rights Act in 1965. I think that back when the 15th Amendment was first written and passed, that it could have had a bigger impact sooner if the government would have enforced it stronger. I think that in a way they only made this at ... first to make the US believe that they were actually trying to progress and better the country considering the time frame this was all happening. And I don ... 't think that they actually really cared about the...

  • Word Count: 346
  • Approx Pages: 1
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9. THE BILL OF RIGHTS

... not. This is why today in our world the Bill of Rights is not being followed the way that it should be. The first amendment says that we should be able to have freedom of speech, religion and freedom of the press. This amendment is not followed in the right way as is says. First of all we can not let all the people be free to do all of ... the things that their religion lets them do. For example ... not right to spend all of your life just telling lies about others. Freedom of the press is taken much too strongly and should be more controlled. The second amendment talks about the right...

  • Word Count: 1140
  • Approx Pages: 5
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10. 1st amendment

THE FIRST AMENDMENT "Congress shall make no laws respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." What exactly are the limits to free speech, anyway? This amendment forbids the government from making any law that prohibits it. The debate against this will rage on forever, even judges can't agree ... suing publishers and editors for all kinds of things. We need to remind these folks that the First Amendment is a man-made law, not something that is God-m...

  • Word Count: 365
  • Approx Pages: 1
  • Grade Level: High School

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