Civil Liberties: The First
Amendment Freedoms
Chapter 19
The Unalienable Rights
Section One
• The Declaration of Independence states
that people have certain unalienable rights,
or individual freedoms that are theirs from
birth. The first ten amendments to the
Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights, list
these rights.
• The Constitution guarantees Americans
both civil liberties and civil rights, terms that
are often used interchangeably. However,
civil liberties are protections against
government acts while civil rights are
positive acts of government that uphold the
Constitution.
• Each constitutional guarantee of civil liberty
limits the power of the government. However,
Americans do not have total freedom. They
may use their freedoms only in ways that do
not infringe on others’ rights.
• Most constitutional rights belong to all people
living in the United States, including aliens—
foreign-born residents or noncitizens.
• The Bill of Rights applies only to the National
Government. Most of its protections are
applied to the State governments by the 14th
Amendment’s Due Process Clause.
• This clause says that “No State
shall…deprive any person of life, liberty, or
property, without due process of law.”
• Through a series of cases, the Supreme
Court has engaged in the process of
incorporation by which most of the Bill of
Rights’ guarantees have been included in
the Due Process Clause.
Freedom of Religion
Section Two
First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution:
“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 to
peaceably assemble, and to petition the
government for a redress of grievances.”
• Free expression, including freedom of religion
and freedom of the press, is necessary in a
free society. The 1st Amendment guarantees
religious freedom through its Establishment
Clause and its Free Exercise Clause.
• The 14th Amendment’s Due Process Clause
protects this freedom from acts of the States.
• The Establishment Clause says that “Congress
shall make no law respecting an establishment
of religions….” Thomas Jefferson described
the clause as setting up “a wall of separation
between church and state.”
• The nature of the “wall,” particularly as it
applies to education, is not agreed upon
and has therefore been the subject of
many court cases.
• For example, in 1925 the Supreme Court
ruled that a State government could not
force parents to send their children to
public schools instead of private, churchrelated parochial schools.
• In other rulings, the Court has said that
public schools may not sponsor religious
events.
• It has not said, however, that individuals may
not pray when and as they choose—in
schools or in any other place.
• The Free Exercise Clause says that
“Congress shall make no law…prohibiting the
free exercise [of religion]….” It guarantees to
each person that right to believe whatever he
or she wishes with regard to religion.
• However, no person may act on behalf of
those beliefs exactly as he or she chooses.
For example, people may not break laws or
harm others while practicing their religion.
Freedom of Speech and Press
Section Three
• The 1st and 14th amendments’ guarantees of
free speech and a free press protect a
person’s right to speak freely and to hear what
others have to say. However, no person has
the right to libel or slander another.
• Libel is the false and malicious use of printed
words; slander is the false and malicious use
of spoken words. Sedition is the crime of
attempting to overthrow or disrupt the
government by force or violent acts.
• Seditious speech, or the urging of such
conduct, is not protected by the First
Amendment.
• The Supreme Court has limited both seditious
speech and obscenity, but it seldom allows the
use of prior restraint—the curbing by the
government of ideas before they have been
expressed.
• The media are also subject to federal regulation.
For instance, reporters do not have a
constitutional right to keep their sources
confidential.
• However, 30 States have passed shield laws,
which give reporters some protection against
having to disclose their sources or reveal other
confidential information in legal proceedings in
those States.
• The media of radio and television are
subject to more regulation than newspapers
because they use the publicly owned
airwaves to distribute their materials.
• Symbolic speech, or communicating ideas
by conduct, has been protected by the
Supreme Court. An example of symbolic
speech would include wearing a black
armband to protest war.
• When it is peaceful, picketing, or the
patrolling of a business site by striking
workers, is one such form of protected
conduct.
Freedom of Assembly and
Petition
Section Four
• The 1st and 14th Amendments guarantee
the right of Americans to assemble, or
gather, to share their opinions on public
matters. The people may organize to
influence public policy and to tell public
officials what they think.
• They may do this through petitions,
advertisements, letters, and
demonstrations. Demonstrations,
however, must be peaceful.
• People do not have the right to block
streets or close schools. They may not
endanger life, property, or public order.
• The government may make rules about
the time and place of assemblies and
about how they are conducted. These
rules must be reasonable and content
neutral—that is, the rules may not be
related to what might be said at the
demonstrations.
• Most demonstrations take place on public
property because demonstrators want to get the
public’s attention.
• There is no constitutional right to demonstrate
on private property—therefore no one has a
constitutional right to hand out political material
or ask people to sign petitions there. Some State
constitutions, however, do grant that right.
• The guarantees of freedom of assembly and
petition include a guarantee of association. That
means that the right to be with others to promote
political, economic, and social causes is
guaranteed.
First Amendment Supreme Court Cases
• Pierce v. Society of Sisters
• Everson v. Board of
Education
• Zorach v. Clauson
• Engel v. Vitale
• Abington School District v.
Schempp
• Wallace v. Jaffree
• Sante Fe Independent
School District v. Doe
• Lemon v. Kurtzman
• Lynch v. Donnellly
• County of Allegheny v.
ACLU
• Marsh v. Chambers
• Reynolds v. U.S.
• McGowan v. Maryland
• Welsh v. U.S.
• Cantwell v. Connecticut
• Sherbert v. Verner
• West Virginia School Board
of Education v. Barnette