Two of our least-known freedoms, petition and assembly, are at the heart of our nation’s most profound changes.
Blog
U.S. Journalists Report for Us Despite Violence by Mobs, Police
A free press was under attack last weekend, in incidents not seen in this number since the height of the modern civil rights movement more than 60 years ago – and we cannot allow it to continue.
Deep Dive: Trump, Twitter and the First Amendment
The long-simmering discontent between President Donald J. Trump and Silicon Valley powerhouses boiled over this week.
Arrest of CNN Crew Violates First Amendment
A CNN news crew was arrested early Friday morning by Minnesota State Police officers while doing a live, on-street report on a violent night of protest in Minneapolis.
Should Courts Decide Who Is A Religious Minister? Do They Have a Choice?
The government should not be in the business of telling religious communities who to hire or fire as religious leaders.
Houses of Worship and the Urgency of COVID-19
By all accounts, no one factor was more responsible for adoption of the Establishment Clause (the provision of the First Amendment prohibiting government establishment of religion) than grassroots opposition to the practice of using government coffers to pay clergy salaries and build and maintain churches and church property.
Pending Supreme Court Case May Affect the Right to Protest
The Supreme Court may soon add another key First Amendment case to its docket — this time touching on the amendment’s lesser-known rights of assembly and petition.
In its first live-broadcast oral arguments, Supreme Court discusses several First Amendment issues
The biggest decision the Supreme Court makes this year may turn out to be its pivot to allow real-time audio broadcasts of its arguments for the first time in its history.
What words make up a ‘true threat?’ Well, that depends
Note: This column contains language that may offend, quoted as part of musical lyrics. As the COVID-19 crisis stretches on, we’re seeing more conflict, more protests and particularly more online rancor in the debate over how — and if — public officials should “open up” society or government restraints on gatherings, from bowling leagues and bars […]
“A Prized American Privilege”
“For it is a prized American privilege to speak one’s mind, although not always with perfect good taste, on all public institutions.” So wrote Justice Hugo Black in Bridges v. State of California (1941), reversing contempt citations for a labor leader and newspaper for commenting on pending litigation.