About Your 1st Amendment Rights
Under the United States Constitution, the First Amendment is a section of the Bill of Rights. There were ten amendments made to the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights was first proposed by Thomas Jefferson to James Madison. The First Amendment was introduced to provide adequate guarantees to the civil liberties. This Amendment along with the entire Bill of Rights was adopted by the states on December 15, 1791. This Amendment actually intends to protect the most basic human rights.
The Establishment Clause
The establishment clause of this Amendment stated- “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 proper exercise of this clause was started by the US Government during the later twentieth Century.
Learn more about the Bill of Rights from the following page:
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights.html
Or mail your queries at:
The National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road,
College Park, MD 20740-6001
You may also ring at the toll free number: 1-866-272-6272
The Clause of Free Exercise
This is the second clause of The First Amendment. According to this clause the freedom of practicing a religion should be protected. The religious persecution and practices were universal in this country till the 18th Century.
The Clause of Freedom of Speech
This clause prohibits the Congress from passing or exercising laws which involves in “abridging the freedom of speech.” This clause permits individuals to practice expressions without any kind of constraint or interferences put forwarded by the government. If such interferences are made, the Supreme Court will require the government to show substantial justification along with relevance to the act. The right to speech and expression comprises of many other mediums of communicating a message. The level of judgment of the speech depends on the forum where it is taking place. But there may be some speech that are prohibited in this act and are therefore considered to be unlawful by the Supreme Court. Some of these categories include:
• Fighting words
• Commercial speech
• Illegal fighting advocacy
• Obscenity
There are certain “free speech zones” which are created separately in public places especially for the political activists. These zones are created for these activists to practice their right to ‘freedom of speech’ as a form which is commonly known as “TPM” or Time Place Manner as the speech regulation. These zones are basically set up the ‘Secret Service’ agency.
In United States this law was protected by all the state laws, federal laws and state constitution. The exceptions of the general protection attributes are as follows-
The Right to Press
This law codifies that people can be assembled or gathered for reasons pertaining to lawful or peaceful purposes. This is an implicit right which is related to the right to belief and association. But there are certain limitations to this right. It does not allow the right to social association. The government may also restrict associations made knowingly for the promoting and engaging illegal activities. Another prohibition included by the government under this clause is from requiring a group to disclose or register its members or from benefits provided by the government based on an individual’s past or current membership with respect to a particular group.
Learn more from the official site of USA: http://www.usa.gov/Agencies/federal.shtml
Or contact directly for your queries at:
USA.gov, U.S. General Services Administration, Office of Citizen Services and Communications, Suite G-142, 1800 F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20405, U.S.A.