OPINION: First Amendment serves as foundation of freedom

It’s only 45 words long, but it’s the reason subscribers can read the multitudes of words in a daily newspaper. It’s also the reason this very opinion page can criticize the actions of government officials.

While it guarantees freedom of the press, it also guarantees four other freedoms, and none of those exists within a vacuum.

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads as follows:

“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.”

Therefore, U.S. residents can practice any religion they want, or no religion at all. No religious group can persecute another.

Americans also can follow nonviolent, legal means to let leaders hear their concerns by gathering in public or petitioning the government, and the government can’t quash a protest.

These freedoms extend further than they did in a United States that looked vastly different on Dec. 15, 1791, when the First Amendment and the following nine Amendments went into effect. At that time, slaves and women couldn’t enjoy the freedoms that male landowners held. But the First Amendment laid the groundwork for future Amendments that gave everyone equal protection in this country.

A nationwide nonpartisan program called 1 for All aims to improve understanding of the First Amendment by focusing on all five freedoms it provides.

“America’s news media are quick to defend freedom of the press, and churches embrace freedom of faith, but these freedoms are interdependent and deserve the full support of all Americans,” 1 for All’s website states. “We can’t pick and choose the freedoms we like.”

Limits do exist, however, on certain types of speech. The First Amendment doesn’t protect threats, defamation or child pornography, among others — nor should it.

In addition, students aren’t allowed to interrupt school activities. The U.S. Supreme Court’s 1969 decision in Tinker v. Des Moines School District requires students’ speech to be considered in light of the “special characteristics of the school environment.”

But while school-sponsored prayer is prohibited, students can pray on their own time. Under the First Amendment, a school can’t prevent a student from practicing his or her own religion any more than it could endorse a particular religion’s prayer.

Still, Americans debate over the degree of separation that should exist between church and state. What unarguably was inked 220 years ago, however, is that the government can neither establish a national religion nor favor one religious group over another.

Each person in this country should expect his or her speech to be protected, but they should be sure also to respect the views of others, because the First Amendment applies to everyone in the United States. The nation celebrates its independence and liberty every July 4, but every day, its residents should revere the First Amendment as the foundation of their freedom.

ON THE WEB
1 for All: http://1forall.us/

— Unsigned editorials represent the views of this newspaper: Editorial Board members are Mark Laskowski (regional publisher), Sam Bundy (sports editor), Kimberly Ginfrida (content manager), David Johnson (regional circulation director), John Sweeney (The Weekly Observer editor), Charles Tomlinson (Lake City News & Post editor) and Jackie Torok (metro editor).