Chapter 15CONSTITUTIONAL FREEDOMS

Chapter 15 Vocabulary1. Censorship

2. Commercial Speech

3. Defamation

4. Establishment Clause

5. “Fighting Words”

6. Free Exercise Clause

7. Libel

8. Obscenity

9. Prior Restraint

10. Pure Speech

11. Secular

12. Seditious Speech

13. Slander

14. Symbolic Speech

“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.”

—The First Amendment

Lesson 1 – Freedom of Speech

•The First Amendment protects people’s freedom of

religion, speech, press, assembly and petition.

•The First Amendment’s protection of speech and

expression lies at the heart of a democratic society.

What Speech Should Be Protected?

Lesson 1 – Freedom of Speech

•Pure speech refers to verbal expression.

•Symbolic speech is behavior that expresses an idea.

Lesson 1 – Freedom of Speech•Free speech is limited in cases where public safety is concerned.

•The government cannot restrict speech based on content but specific categories of content can be punished.

•Obscenity, defamation, and “fighting words” can be punished.

•Some forms of commercial or seditious speech are not protected by the First Amendment.

Lesson 1 – Freedom of Speech•The government may make reasonable regulations governing the

time, place, and manner of speech.

•Regulations over when, where, and how expression is allowed must

be viewpoint neutral and evenly enforced.

•Places in which the rules about free speech are different include

prisons, schools, and the military.

Lesson 2 – Freedom of the Press, Assembly and Petition

•Freedom of the press means that government censorship is prohibited by the First Amendment.

•Prior restraint is generally presumed unconstitutional by U.S. courts.

•Conflicts can occur between freedom of the press and the right to a fair trial.

•The growth of technology and mass communication have created new freedom of the press issues.

Lesson 2 – Freedom of the Press, Assembly and Petition

Lesson 2 – Freedom of the Press, Assembly and Petition

•Freedoms of petition and assembly are essential rights in a

democracy.

•The freedom of assembly must be balanced with maintaining order

and safe communities.

•The government may regulate the time, place, and manner of

assemblies if it does so fairly.

Lesson 2 – Freedom of the Press, Assembly and Petition

•NAACP v. Alabama (1958)

•National Socialist Party of America v. Skokie (1976)

•Boy Scouts of America v. Dale (1999)

Lesson 3 – Freedom of Religion

Lesson 3 – Freedom of Religion•“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of

religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”

•The First Amendment prohibits the government from

endorsing or punishing religious belief or practice.

•Supreme Court cases dealing with church and state

relations have increased significantly in number since 1940.

Lesson 3 – Freedom of Religion•How high is the “wall of separation?”

•Cases involving the establishment clause have been among the most controversial.

•Establishment clause cases involving public schools have been hotly debated.

•The establishment clause also prohibits some religious displays by the government.

Lesson 3 – Freedom of Religion•Establishment clause cases involving public schools have been hotly debated.•Lemon v. Kurtzman•have a secular, or nonreligious, purpose; •in its main effect neither advance nor inhibit, or hold back,

religion; •avoid excessive entanglement of government with religion.•School Prayer•Engel v. Vitale

Lesson 3 – Freedom of Religion•The establishment clause also prohibits some religious

displays by the government.

•Is there variety?

•Is there a secular purpose?

•Lynch v. Donnelly (1984)

Lesson 3 – Freedom of Religion

Lesson 3 – Freedom of Religion•If the right to free exercise of religion conflicts with other key interests, the First Amendment may not win.

•Actions based on religious beliefs may be restricted if they violate a key secular government interest.

•Reynolds v. United States (1879) - polygamy

•Wisconsin v. Yoder (1971) – compulsory attendance

•West Virginia School Board v. Barnette (1943) - pledge

Lesson 4 – The Fourteenth Amendment•Let’s make a foldable !

Lesson 5 – Equal Protection and Discrimination

Outline Activity

Lesson 6 – The Rights to Bear Arms and PrivacyMilitias were crucial in winning the American Revolution.What does it mean to be in a militia?

Does the clause in the 2nd Amendment affect the interpretation of its meaning?

“A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”

Lesson 6 – The Rights to Bear Arms and Privacy Efforts by the government to regulate firearms are very controversial. The Gun Control Act of 1968 prohibits certain people from

buying or possessing guns.

Many states have enacted their own legislation about guns.

Lesson 6 – The Rights to Bear Arms and PrivacyThe Supreme Court has ruled that people have a constitutional right to keep guns in their homes.

District of Columbia v. HellerThe right to own a weapon for self-defense is not related to

membership in a militia.

Lesson 6 – The Rights to Bear Arms and PrivacyThe concept of “right to privacy” comes from the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Ninth Amendments.

Lesson 6 – The Rights to Bear Arms and PrivacyThe right to privacy was basic to Supreme Court rulings on contraception and abortion.

Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)

Roe v. Wade (1973)

Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992)

Lesson 6 – The Rights to Bear Arms and Privacy

Advances in technology have created information gathering and privacy issues.

War and terrorism create tension between citizens’ privacy rights and national security needs.

USA Patriot Act and the War on TerrorSecretly wiretap someone’s telephone and Internet communicationsUse secretly-gathered information in criminal trialsDelay notifying people their residence has been searched until long after the search took

placeAccess business records of someone suspected of terrorism, espionage, or spyingSeize “any tangible thing” deemed relevant to a terrorism investigation even if there is no

reasonable suspicion that this “thing” related to terrorist activitiesObtain approval for a wiretap without identifying the person or facility to be tapped