Amendment 1 The Bill of Rights

Amendment 1 “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”

Amendment 1 What does that mean?

Amendment 1 Freedoms: Religion Speech Press Assembly Petition

Amendment 1 What is the freedom of Religion? What does it mean? What are some examples of people exercising their freedom of Religion? What would be a violation of a person’s freedom of religion?

Amendment 1 What is the freedom of Speech? What does it mean? What are some examples of people exercising their freedom of speech? What would be a violation of a person’s freedom of speech?

Amendment 1 What is the freedom of Press? What does it mean? What are some examples of people exercising their freedom of press? What would be a violation of a person’s freedom of press?

Amendment 1 What is the freedom of Assembly? What does it mean? What are some examples of people exercising their freedom of assembly? What would be a violation of a person’s freedom of assembly?

Amendment 1 What is the freedom of Petition? What does it mean? What are some examples of people exercising their freedom of petition? What would be a violation of a person’s freedom of petition?

What They Mean-Amendment 1 Religion-You can believe what you want, belong to any religion or no religion. Speech-You can voice your opinions using words, symbols, or actions. Press- the government cannot censor information in newspapers, online news sources, TV news broadcasts, etc.

What They Mean-Amendment 1 Assembly- You can gather in a group. Petition-You can criticize the government, and you can complain about policies that affect you negatively and ask for change.

What did you learn? What First Amendment rights are being expressed in these situations? Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ’s, “I Have a Dream” speech on August 28, 1963 in Washington, D.C., on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, that was delivered to over 200,000 civil rights supporters?

What did you learn? What about the Washington Post uncovering the Watergate Scandal during the presidency of 37th President Richard Nixon? What about the women’s suffrage movement and women finally earning the right to vote when Congress passed the 19th amendment in 1920?

What did you learn? What about an all-night candle/prayer vigil in memory of a fallen soldier? What about the creation of a Web site that details the sources of a politicians,’ campaign contributions?

Amendment 1 in Schools Does the First Amendment apply to schools?

Amendment 1 in Schools Yes. The Supreme Court ruled in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District 1969, that students do not “shed” their free-speech rights “at the schoolhouse gate”. This means that public school students retain some level of free-expression rights, even during the school day. (Facts of the case- The school heard that the kids were going to wear black armbands to school to protest the Vietnam War and passed a policy banning armbands. The students were suspended.)

Amendment 1 in Schools Do students have the same level of First Amendment rights as adults?

Amendment 1 in Schools No. The Supreme Court also said in the Tinker Case that students’ rights must be considered against the “special characteristics of the school environment.” Speech that substantially disrupts schools activities, for example, is not protected by the First Amendment.