Reflections On The First Amendment

Reflections on the First Amendment

On December 15th, 1971, the first X amendments to the Constitution went into affect. The first X amendments to the constitution were known as the Bill of Rights. The First Amendment was written by James Madison because the American people were demanding a guarantee of their freedom. The First Amendment was put into place to protect American’s freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly and freedom of petition. The First Amendment was written as follows;

“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.” (First Amendment Center, 2008)

The First Amendment Center conducts a national annual survey on the First Amendment. “Americans clearly have mixed views of what First Amendment freedoms are and to whom they should fully apply. To me the results of this year’s survey endorse the idea of more and better education for young people - our nation’s future leaders - about our basic freedoms.” (Gene Policinski, VP and executive director of the First Amendment Center 2007)

The Supreme Court of the United States has the highest authority in the Judicial Branch and is the third branch of government. The function of the Supreme Court is to interpret the Constitution. The Supreme Court looks at federal and state statues and executive actions to determine if they comply with the United States Constitution. On the Supreme Court, there are nine justices that hear cases that have been appealed through the justice system. When the Supreme Court rules in a case that is the last and final ruling for the defendant.

One case that was brought to the United States Supreme court was the Cohen vs. California case. In this case, freedom of speech was the issue to be addressed in conjunction with the first amendment. This case was argued February 22, 1971 and decided upon on June 7, 1971. On April 26, 1968 Paul Robert Cohen was in the corridor of the Los Angeles County Courthouse wearing a jacket that said “Fuck the Draft.” The words were clearly visible and there were numerous women and children all around him in the courthouse. Cohen was arrested for wearing this jacket purposely in front of everyone and being in the courthouse. Cohen admitted that he wore the jacket purposely to inform the public of the way he felt against the Draft and the Vietnam War. He was convicted and sentenced to XXX days in prison.

This case needed to be heard in the United States Supreme Court because Cohen’s lawyer appealed this case as Cohen and the lawyer believed that his right to freedom of speech as guaranteed in the first amendment had been dishonored. The state of California lacked the power to penalize Cohen without showing a reason to promote disobedience to or disruption to the draft with the underlying content of the message on the back of his jacket. Cohen was convicted for violating the California Penal Code section 415 which prohibits maliciously and willfully disturbing another person by using offensive words in a public place which are inherently likely to provoke an immediate violent reaction. Mr. Justice Harlan stated that the state of California can not make a public display of a four letter word a criminal offense according to the first and fourteenth amendment. In Mr. Justice Blackmun’s opinion, Cohen’s actions were mainly in the act of conduct and little of speech. With this in mind Cohen was convicted for disturbing the peace.

In the case of Brown vs. Louisiana, freedom of speech, assembly, and freedom to petition were the rights in conjunction with the first amendment to be addressed. On March 7, 1964, Mr. Henry Brown and four other young male Negros went into the Audubon Regional Library in Clinton, Louisiana to request the book “The Story of the Negro.” The book was not available at that time so the Librarian, Mrs. Katie Reeves advised Mr. Brown that she would request the book from the state library and he could either pick it up or it would be mailed to him. She informed him also that “his point of service was a bookmobile or it could be mailed to him.” (Justia) The Audubon Regional Library did not serve blacks. Mrs. Reeves thought that the men would leave after that but when they didn’t, she asked them to leave but they refused to go. The men silently remained in the library.

About X to XV minutes after they arrived at the library, the sheriff and deputies arrived and asked the men to leave and again they refused and the sheriff arrested Mr. Brown and the other four men. The sheriff and deputies had previously been notified earlier that day that some members of the Congress of Equality were going to sit in at the library. The sheriff had been watching for them to go into the library and when he saw them enter, he called his deputies for backup. The men were arrested for not leaving a public building when asked to do so by an officer. Mr. Brown and the other four men were found guilty on March 25, 1964. Brown was sentenced to ninety days in jail and the other four men were sentenced to XV days in jail.

According to the Louisiana Law, their convictions could not be appealed. There were no errors found by the Supreme Court therefore, the court granted certiorari. After reviewing the records, Justice Fortas determined that the men should not have been convicted because their protest was peaceful and blacks could not be denied access to the library because whites were allowed inside. He realized that the men were quiet and peaceful and were not being disruptive or disturbing anyone by being in the library. Justice Fortas made the decision that the men’s rights to the first and fourteenth amendment had been violated.

In the case of Zacchini vs. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Company, freedom of press was the right in conjunction with the first amendment to be addressed. This case was argued on April 25, 1977 and decided upon on June 28, 1977. On August 30, 1972 Hugo Zacchini, an entertainer, performed a human cannonball being shot from a cannon two hundred feet into a net at a county fair in Burton, Ohio. That day, a reporter from Scripps-Howard broadcasting company attended the county fair carrying a small video camera with him. Zacchini saw the reporter and asked him politely not to record the performance. The reporter granted Zacchini’s wish that day. However, the next