The First Amendment

AHA! 11th grade

Interdisciplinary Project

Cunnane, Erby, Stahl, & Favianna

PAY ATTENTION

• Pay attention & participate

• I will tell you when you need to take notes

• 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 5 parts of the 1st amendment

• RAPPS:

• Religion

• Assembly

• Press

• Petition

• Speech

Religion:

• The government cannot tell you what to believe in or practice

• The government cannot tell you what NOT to believe in or what NOT to practice

Assembly:

• Citizens can come together in public and in private

• You can meet for political, social, religious, or recreational purposes

Press:

• Information can be accessed from a ton of sources

• Government cannot control what is printed in newspapers, books, magazines etc. or what is broadcasted on TV or the radio

• Citizens can write what they want: letters to the editor, post their own websites or blogs, & make flyers…

Petition:

• You have the right to request changes from your government

• You have the right to request stuff from your government

contact representatives, petition for new laws

• Requesting a change in the law….

Speech: (expression)

• Say what you think!• The government

cannot make laws prohibiting what can say or tell us what to say

• Citizens have the right to criticize the government

• “If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all.” ~Noam Chomsky

• “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” ~Voltaire

The First Amendment is based on 6 principles:

1) First Amendment affirms Freedom of Individual

• Inalienable Rights• Freedom of

Consciousness: protect everyone, not just majority

• Our ideas belong to us

• Example: I am free to believe in the death penalty

2) Free Expression is the Foundation of Democracy

• Shared information leads to informed choices and informed decision making

• Example: multiple news sources provide varied information and perspectives

3) “Hands Off” policy

• The government can regulate time, place and manner of political or religious beliefs but cannot regulate content

• Example: I have the right to be pro choice but if I want to hold a rally in SF I have to get a permit first

4) Other People’s Rights

• First Amendment belongs to all Americans

• First Amendment protects minorities limiting some rights will eventually limit everyone’s rights

• Example: If I am the only person in this room to support the War in Afghanistan, do I still have the RIGHT to my opinion? Can I still VOICE my opinion?

5) Balance of Rights

• Courts (government) steps in when 2 rights collide; often involves defamation

• Defamation: communication about a person that damages the person’s reputation– Spoken = libel

– Written = slander

Example of defamation

• Actress Cameron Diaz sued The British Sun for implying that she had an affair with a married man. This was slanderous to her reputation (2005).

6) Questioning

• We can question what we want

• Asking questions helps us to understand choices and make better decisions

So why is there a contradiction between our First Amendment

rights as written and as practiced?

Learning Objectives: students will understand (write this down)• 1) The theory of the 1st Amendment as written &

the practice of 1st Amendment rights;• 2) How artists have used 1st Amendment rights for

social change & the legal limits of this expression• 3) Who is responsible for restricting 1st

Amendment and on what basis; who is accountable for upholding the 1st Amendment & on what basis?