Month: February 2023

Photo Source

Welcome back to The First Amendment for Dummies – where we discuss everything having to do with the First Amendment to the US Constitution (what it is, how it was established, challenges it has had throughout history, and how it applies to our modern day world!). In today’s post (a continuation of last week’s post), we are going to dive into how the First Amendment has been challenged throughout history – as stated in the title. Last week we explored the 20th century – plagued with two world wars, civil rights movements, both Red Scares, and so much more that threatened democracy and free speech in the US. Although 21st century history is a lot more recent and easy to remember for most of us, the First Amendment has still been facing similar challenges too freedom as it did during the previous century. So without further ado, let’s jump straight back into our First Amendment Timeline!

The 21st Century

2000: To start of the century, the court case Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe ruled that a school district’s policy, which permitted student-led and student-initiated prayer at football games, violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment.

2001: The Supreme Court ruled that a federal law prohibiting the publication of illegally intercepted wire communications violated the First Amendment rights of those who published the communications, though they were not the group who intercepted them. In this case, the Court reasoned that the application of the law to the defendants implicated the core provision of the First Amendment, since it imposed sanctions on the publication of truthful information of public concern. This case was titled Bartnicki v. Vopper.

2002: In this year, the US Supreme Court ruled – in the case of Republican Party of Minnesota v. White – that a provision prohibiting judicial candidates from announcing their views on disputed legal or political issues violates the First Amendment.

Photo Source

2003: In the case of United States v. American Library Association, Inc., the US Supreme Court upheld the Children’s Internet Protection Act. This law requires public libraries and public schools to install filtering software on computers in order to receive federal funding.

2007: In the case of Morse v. Frederick, the US Supreme Court ruled that principal Deborah Morse did not violate the First Amendment rights of high school student Joseph Frederick when she punished him for displaying a “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” banner on a public street directly across from his school while the Winter Olympic Torch Relay passed through Juneau, Alaska. In this case, the Court created a “drug speech” exception to the First Amendment.

2011: During Brown v. Entertainment Merchant’s Association, the US Supreme Court ruled that video games are a form of speech that is, in fact, protected by the First Amendment. The Court held the state of California’s law that restricting the sales or rental of violent video games to minors is actually unconstitutional.

Photo Source

2014: In the case of Lane v. Franks, the US Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the First Amendment protected a public employee who was fired by his employer after he provided truthful court testimony which was pursuant to a subpoena. This decision by the Court provided an exception to the broad and categorical rule that limited public employee speech.

2017: In the case of Packingham v. North Carolina, the US Supreme Court – once again- unanimously voted to invalidate a North Carolina law that prohibited sex offenders from accessing social media websites. In this decision, the Court said that social media users, including sex offenders, access websites covered under the law for a wide range of lawful activities.

Photo Source

In conclusion … It is extremely important to know about the history, as well as the trials and tribulations, of the First Amendment in order to truly understand what the First Amendment is, what it protects, and how it cane be used (in court and in everyday life). I hope that these last two posts were able to be a thorough guide in understanding the history of the First Amendment (and, as always, be sure to check out the First Amendment Timeline to see every court case from the past two centuries since I couldn’t mention them all!), and be sure to look out for my next post where we dive into how the First Amendment applies to modern day society through protests!

Photo Source

Welcome back to the “First Amendment for Dummies” blog, where we dive into everything about the First Amendment: what it is, the history behind it, how it applies to modern day life, and so much more! In the last post I gave an introduction to what exactly the First Amendment is, and what it protects; however, it is hard to truly understand the power of such a law until you learn a bit about the challenges it’s been through throughout history. Today, I am going to take you through the 19th and 20th centuries (just after the First Amendment was passed!) to explore what affect this amendment had on American society, and how it has survived challenges through thick and thin to get all the way to the 21st century!

The 20th Century

1907: This year is significant, mostly because it was when the first free-press case took place in America (in Patterson v. Colorado). In this case, the Supreme Court decided that it does not have the jurisdiction to review and “contempt” conviction of the US Senator and Denver newspaper publisher Thomas Patterson for articles and a cartoon that criticized Colorado’s state court.

1917-1918: These years were tough, and can almost be seen as taking a step back from the liberties that are granted through the First Amendment- all as a result of World War 1. in 1917, the Espionage Act was passed, which made it a crime to willfully obstruct recruiting of US forces and to attempt to cause disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty. In 1918, Congress passed the Sedition Act, which forbid spoken or printed criticism of the US government, Constitution, or flag.

1919: When the US Supreme Court upheld the convictions of five people charged with violating the Espionage Act (in Abrams v. United States), there were several conflicting opinions. While some agreed with the conviction since the group was circulating pamphlets that were critical of the US government and its involvement in WW1, Justice Holmes believed that the ultimate good was found by reaching free trade in ideas. This belief later became the foundation for the “marketplace of ideas” theory that is outlined in the First Amendment.

Photo Source

1931: In the case Stromberg v. California, the Supreme Court reversed the conviction of Yetta Stromberg, who was a young member of the Young Communist League, and violated a state law which prohibited the display of a red flag as an emblem of opposition to the US government. This was the first time that the Supreme Court recognized that protected speech may be nonverbal, and take the form of symbolic and artistic expressions (such as flags, dances, artwork, and so much more!).

1942: In Chaplinksy v. New Hamsphire, “fighting words” were determined to not be protected by the First Amendment. In this case, “fighting words” were established to be words that inflict injury and/or incite an immediate breach of peace. These words are of slight social value, and therefore do not contain many benefits to use.

1964: The US Supreme Court overturned a libel charge against the New York Times in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, ruling that public officials may not recover damages for a defamatory falsehood relating to their conduct unless they prove the statement was made with actual malice.

1972: In the case of Branxburg v. Hayes, the Supreme Court found that the First Amendment does not exempt reporters from providing relevant information to a jury. They rejected a reporter’s claim that the flow of information available to the press will be cut off if reporters are forced to release the names of confidential sources for use in a government investigation.

1989: This is when Congress passed the Flag Protection Act, which punishes anyone who knowingly mutilates, defaces, defies, burns, or tramples upon any US flag.

1992: In the case of R.A.V. v. City of Saint Paul, the Supreme Court invalidated a Saint Paul, Minnesota hate-speech ordinance. They did this because they said that it violated the First Amendment. This is one of the first times that hate speech and the First Amendment were deliberated together within a courtroom.

Photo Source

Thanks for following along with part 1 of the Historical Challenges to the First Amendment! There were so many intriguing court cases that occurred in the 19th Century, so it was impossible to include them all. If you would like to check out the other court cases, however, and gain more information on the ones mentioned today, check out the First Amendment Timeline published by The Free Speech Center (where all the information came from for today’s blog post!). Hope to catch you next time where we dive into the historical challenges to the First Amendment in the 20th Century!