1. First Amendment Protections Government - Libertyville HS

3. Establishment of Religion Clause Does America have a state religion? Do other countries have a state religion? Where? Positive / negative effects of a state religion? – Positive Shared sense of morality Social cohesion Less controversy – Negative Intolerance, ignorance and fear Oppression of non-believers Limits on who can participate in government

4. Establishment of Religion Clause Purpose of clause is to avoid the establishment of a national religion Notion of freedom… – FROM government coercion in matters of religion AND – OF religion for each individual

5. Establishment of Religion Clause “Wall of Separation of Church and State” – Origin of phrase: Thomas Jefferson, letter to Danbury Baptistsletter – Original meaning? Does a wall exist? – Yes (examples?) – No (examples?) Money Old textbooks to private schools Pledge of Allegiance Wall or chain link fence?

6. Establishment of Religion Clause Let’s practice! Situation #1 Court’s Ruling? – FOR the KKK Square was a “public forum” As a public forum, erecting cross would not be seen as government’s endorsement of religion but rather as private agent’s opinion Case

7. Establishment of Religion Clause Situation #2 Court’s ruling? – AGAINST silent prayer – Mandatory or state sponsored prayer puts school in position of supporting organized religion – District policy allowing student led, student initiated prayer at football games unconstitutional – Moment of silence, sponsored by school, is uncertain

8. Free Exercise of Religion Clause Clause prohibits governmental interference with religious belief and (within limits) religious practice Person must show two things – religious belief allegedly burdened by the government is central to one's religious beliefs – religious belief that is allegedly burdened is sincerely held Lion of Judah – Symbol of Rastafariani

9. Free Exercise of Religion Clause Supreme court requires governmental bodies to demonstrate a compelling interest “of the highest order” before allowing them to interfere with an individual’s religious conduct Government must also show that how it interferes is least restrictive of the religious conduct as possible

10. Free Exercise of Religion Clause Let’s Practice! Are religions that worship multiple gods legally permitted? What about religious worship that involves handling poisonous snakes by both adults and children? What about a religion that holds that each man should have more than one wife?

11. Free Exercise of Religion Clause Situation – Case heard in criminal court; jury to determine whether parents innocent or guilty of manslaughter of their child – Guilty or innocent? Apply Test – Belief central to religion? – Belief centrally held? – Gov’t have compelling interest? (“parens patriae”) – Interference least restrictive?

12. Freedom of Speech Purpose is to promote dialogue on public issues Most important when speech is unpopular when it is made BTW: What is speech? – art, writing, etc Constitution protects against GOVERNMENTAL suppression of speech Private entities can implement speech restrictions and be subject only to individual lawsuits – Ex 1: Parents – Ex: car salesman & supervisor

13. Limits on Free Speech Obscenity: in order to limit speech b/c it is obscene, SC demands state / federal law meet 3 requirements (Miller) – Avg person, applying local standards, must find work appeals to degrading or unhealthy interest in sex – Work depicts in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct or excretory function – Work, taken as a whole, lacks “serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value” (SLAPS)

14. Limits on Free Speech Copyright and trademark laws – Gives authors, artists etc temporary exclusive rights to profit from their creation – Created when costs of reproducing media were expensive – Problem: today, cost to publish someone else’s creation essentially zero – Keep or eliminate C/T protection? – BUT if you eliminate copyright / trademark protections, why innovate / create things?

15. Limits on Free Speech “Reasonable time, place and manner restrictions” on speech in a public forum – Does regulation of speech serve an important government interest? – Is the gov’t interest served by the regulation of speech unrelated to the suppression of a particular message? – Is the regulation narrowly tailored to serve gov’t interest? – Does the regulation leave open ample alternative means for communicating messages?

16. Limits on Free Speech Let’s practice! Situation #1: is pornographic material obscene, and thus subject to limitation? – Apply Miller test Average person part? Patently offensive? SLAPS? – Class opinion? – USSC = depends on the material (child / rape / murder porn is / are all subject to limitation)

17. Limits on Free Speech Ban on picketing outside private homes justified, based on protection of residential privacy? – Why / why not? – Alternatives? Ban on loud music played at night, justified as helping people get sleep? – Why / why not? – Alternatives?

18. Limits on Free Speech Higher permit fees for rallies and parades, justified by increased police protection estimated to be required? – Why / why not? – Alternatives? – Regulation must be content neutral (BSA vs KKK) – “Heckler’s veto”

19. Limits on Free Speech Do people have an unlimited right to download an artist’s work (music, pictures, etc) from the internet, without payment to the artist? – Why / why not? – Alternatives? What about downloading for public, for-profit use, by the downloader?