Fundamental Freedoms

Section 1: Freedom and the Bill of Rights Section 2: Freedom of Religion Section 3: Freedom of Speech and of the Press Section 4: Freedom of Assembly and Petition CHAPTER 13 Fundamental Freedoms

Section 1: Freedom and the Bill of Rights • Objectives: • How does the Constitution protect civil liberties? • Whose civil liberties does the First Amendment guarantee? • What is the role of laws and the courts in balancing individuals’ civil liberties with the interests of the community?

Section 1: Freedom and the Bill of Rights • The Constitution protects civil liberties in the Bill of Rights.

Section 1: Freedom and the Bill of Rights • People whose civil liberties are guaranteed by the First Amendment: • U.S. citizens • resident noncitizens

Section 1: Freedom and the Bill of Rights • To balance individuals’ civil liberties with community interests, boundaries on individual rights have been set by laws and the courts so that other’s rights or interests are not threatened.

Section 2: Freedom of Religion • Objectives: • How has the Supreme Court interpreted the Establishment Clause to define the relationship between religion and public schools? • How does the Supreme Court decide if government aid to religious groups is constitutional? • Why has the Supreme Court allowed tax exemptions for religious groups? • How has the Free Exercise Clause been interpreted?

Section 2: Freedom of Religion • Supreme Court interpretations of the Establishment Clause to define the relationship between religion and public schools: • Official support for religious programs is unconstitutional, but students can leave campus to receive religious instruction. • Officially sponsored prayer and religious activities in public schools are unconstitutional, but students have the right to pray on their own in school and religious materials can be used in secular studies.

Section 2: Freedom of Religion • How the Supreme Court determines the constitutionality of government aid to religious groups • The Lemon test: • Aid must be for a nonreligious purpose. • It must neither advance nor limit religion. • It must not result in excessive government involvement with religion.

Section 2: Freedom of Religion • The Supreme Court has allowed tax exemptions for religious groups so the government can remain neutral by neither supporting religion nor restricting it. “Separation of Church and State”, however, is not part of the Constitution. It was taken from the writings of Thomas Jefferson and used in Supreme Court cases on the establishment clause. • (Everson v. Board of Education, 1947; Wallace v. Jaffree, 1985)

Section 2: Freedom of Religion • Religious practices may be restricted if they violate social standards or constitutional laws, such as bigamy, or if they threaten the public safety, such as not vaccinating children because of religious beliefs against such medical practices.

Section 3: Freedom of Speech and of the Press • Objectives: • What challenges exist in balancing individuals’ freedom of speech with the need to protect national security? • What boundaries exist on the media’s freedom of expression? • How does the First Amendment affect symbolic speech and hate speech?

Section 3: Freedom of Speech and of the Press • Challenges in balancing individuals’ freedom of speech with protecting national security: • determining sedition • proving statements pose a clear and present danger

Section 3: Freedom of Speech and of the Press • Boundaries on the media’s freedom of expression: • prior restraint laws • shield laws • libel laws • obscenity laws • license requirements • FCC standards • false advertising laws

Section 3: Freedom of Speech and of the Press • The First Amendment’s effect on symbolic speech and hate speech: • symbolic speech—actions that communicate a message are protected to an extent • hate speech—many hate speech rules and “insulting” or “fighting” words that are likely to cause a fight are not protected

Section 4: Freedom of Assembly and Petition • Objectives: • How does the First Amendment protect the rights of assembly and petition on public property? • How is the freedom to demonstrate restricted on private property? • How does freedom of assembly support freedom of association?

Section 4: Freedom of Assembly and Petition • First Amendment protections on the rights of assembly and petition on public property: • protects peaceful demonstrations • protects demonstrations with time, place, and manner regulations

Section 4: Freedom of Assembly and Petition • Restrictions on the freedom to demonstrate on private property: • People do not have the right to demonstrate or protest on property belonging to a business or residence.

Section 4: Freedom of Assembly and Petition • How the freedom of assembly supports the freedom of association: • People may associate with groups without government interference.

1. How are civil liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rights? Do aliens have the same rights as citizens? 2. What is the role of the courts in finding a proper balance between individuals’ civil liberties and some wider public interest? Chapter Wrap-Up

3. What is the importance of the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment? 4. How does the Supreme Court apply the clear-and-present-danger test to free-expression cases? In what ways may government set boundaries on free speech in the media? Chapter Wrap-Up

5. How is symbolic speech protected by the First Amendment? What is the difference between the free expression that is restricted by many hate speech rules and that which the courts have called fighting words? 6. How does the freedom of assembly protect the right of association? Chapter Wrap-Up

Fundamental Freedoms