"The First Amendment to the United States Constitution prevents the government from making laws that regulate an establishment of religion, or that prohibit the free exercise of religion, or abridge the freedom of speech, the freedom of the press, the freedom of assembly, or the right to petition the government for redress of grievances."
Understanding constitutional protections for speech and press, including the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
History of Freedom of Speech and Press: Which covers the origin and development of the notion of freedom of speech and press in society through time.
The First Amendment: The right to free speech and press was secured for U.S. citizens in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Constitutional Law: The United States Constitution has played and will continue to play a significant role in the development of freedom of speech and press.
Freedom of Speech and Censorship: Freedom cannot be separated from censorship, and how much censorship is acceptable?.
Prior Restraint: An injunction that prevents something from happening before it occurs is described as a prior restraint.
Libel and Defamation: A person's reputation is protected by libel and slander laws, which make it a crime to spread false information about that individual.
Newsgathering and Privacy Law: The privacy of individuals, both in print and broadcast outlets, is one of the most significant tensions facing mass communication.
Shield laws and Confidentiality: Journalists are given special privileges and enjoy greater protection under the law, allowing them to keep their sources confidential.
Obscenity and Pornography: The issue of what constitutes obscenity and pornography is a delicate one, with no clear line separating them.
First Amendment and College Campuses: First Amendment rights are given to all Americans, regardless of where they find themselves on university campuses.
Electronic Communication: The rise of the internet and social media platforms are changing the way people communicate and access information.
Hate Speech and Offensive Speech: A contentious area of free speech law, offensive speech and hate speech, continues to evolve and is difficult to define.
Intellectual Property Law: Another area where communication and creativity are prioritized is intellectual property law.
Good Practices for responsible Media: Journalists, report writers, and editors must observe good practices to ensure the integrity of the news they provide.
Media ownership and monopoly: As with other industries, media corporations can establish monopolies, and media publishers must be accountable for their actions.
Political speech: It includes the expression of opinions, beliefs or ideas about society, government or politics.
Commercial speech: It refers to advertising and marketing communications that promote products, goods or services.
Artistic and creative expression: It includes writing, music, painting, sculpture, performance, film or other forms of artistic creation.
Religious expression: It covers religious beliefs, practices, rituals or teachings.
Academic freedom: It involves the freedom of teachers, researchers and students to pursue academic inquiries and to openly express their views.
Press freedom: It refers to the freedom of the press to report news, opinions, or other related information without fear of censorship or reprisals.
Assembly and protest: It involves the right to peaceful assembly and protest in public places.
Personal autonomy: It refers to the right to express oneself, make personal choices or decisions, and control one's life without interference from others.
Hate speech: It refers to speech that is intended to degrade, insult, or dehumanize individuals or groups based on their race, gender, religion, or other personal characteristics.
Defamation: It refers to false or knowingly misleading statements that harm a person's reputation.
"It was adopted on December 15, 1791, as one of the ten amendments that constitute the Bill of Rights."
"The Bill of Rights was proposed to assuage Anti-Federalist opposition to Constitutional ratification."
"Initially, the First Amendment applied only to laws enacted by the Congress."
"Beginning with Gitlow v. New York (1925), the Supreme Court applied the First Amendment to states—a process known as incorporation—through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment."
"In Everson v. Board of Education (1947), the Court drew on Thomas Jefferson's correspondence to call for 'a wall of separation between church and State'."
"the precise boundary of this separation remains in dispute and the terms 'church' and 'State' do not appear in the Amendment."
"Speech rights were expanded significantly in a series of 20th and 21st-century court decisions which protected various forms of political speech, anonymous speech, campaign finance, pornography, and school speech."
"The Supreme Court overturned English common law precedent to increase the burden of proof for defamation and libel suits."
"Commercial speech, however, is less protected by the First Amendment than political speech, and is therefore subject to greater regulation."
"The Free Press Clause protects the publication of information and opinions and applies to a wide variety of media."
"In Near v. Minnesota (1931) and New York Times v. United States (1971), the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment protected against prior restraint—pre-publication censorship—in almost all cases."
"The Petition Clause protects the right to petition all branches and agencies of government for action."
"In addition to the right of assembly guaranteed by this clause, the Court has also ruled that the amendment implicitly protects freedom of association."
"Although the First Amendment applies only to state actors, there is a common misconception that it prohibits anyone from limiting free speech, including private, non-governmental entities."
"Moreover, the Supreme Court has determined that protection of speech is not absolute." (Note: Due to the length of the provided paragraph, not all study questions could be answered directly from the paragraph, and some answers are implied based on the context.)