Call of Cthulhu

Amendment I:

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 sentence is clear: No laws either supporting or denying religious beliefs. This is the infamous "separation of Church and State" clause. While religious conservatives insist that the second part is violated by prohibiting school prayer, Constitutional scholars (ie, the Courts) have decided long ago that both conditions must be met in any given circumstance. To whit, school prayer isn't Constitutional because it would violate the first part of the first sentence.

The second sentence, the "Right to Free Speech", has been the most-contested, and most-upheld, section of any piece of legislation in US history. As with any interpretation, historical context is paramount: In the Colonies, you could be arrested for bumping into a friend on the street and mentioning to him that you thought the English were a bunch of pompous jerks. Furthermore, your local newspaper could be shutdown or siezed by the government if they were to inform your neighbors about your arrest. This Right was included solely for the purpose of guaranteeing every American the Right to talk to anyone else about anything else, and for the media to do the same.

There is a 200yr history of court battles seeking to impose limits on this Right. Google for specifics, but here's a synopsis: You can't call someone else a name for the sole purpose of hurting/angering them (no "Fighting Words"), you can't yell "Fire!" in a crowded theater (Free Speech is for discourse, not mishief), and you can't conspire to commit a crime (defining "crime" is the tricky part -- conspiring to commit a terrorist act is certainly a crime, but is defying a city ordinance in order to stage a peaceful demonstration a crime?).

Which brings us to the last part of the First Amendment, the Right "of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Remember that back in the 18th Century, the Colonists tended to make their concerns known to the English by gathering into large mobs at night, after having spent the afternoon boiling up some tar and plucking a whole lot of chickens. What this Right was telling Americans was that they could assemble into huge groups to address the government, that the government would not be able to take away that Right, but please leave the roofing supplies and poultry at home.

So, to sum up, here's the First Amendment in a nutshell:

1) Church and State can never be at the same place at the same time.
2) You can say anything you want, in any public place, so long as your intent is socio-political discourse, not mischief.
3) You can demonstrate against the government in any public place, as long as you do so peacefully.

Now here's your homework: Are any of these parts currently under attack by this administration?

Discuss.