Constitutional Law

Constitutional Law Chapter 6 Discussion Questions

1. Is the First Amendment the most important Amendment?

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 Amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances.

I feel that the First Amendment is the most important Amendment. This is one of the reasons that America went to war for their right the worship as they pleased. They wanted to be able to say and express what they wanted without reprisal from Great Britain. Pg. 128-129

2. Is free speech the right that should be absolute?

I feel that free speech is a right that should be absolute to a degree. They reason I feel this way is because without the right to express ones opinion would be a dictatorship. Many types of should be censored such as Hate speech and cross burning. Pg. 151

3. Speaking from an historical perspective, why do you think the framers of the Constitution placed so much importance on the first Amendment?

Opponents claimed that the Constitution did not include a bill of rights because the document was an aristocratic scheme to remove the rights of Americans. Supporters, known as Federalists, assured Americans that a Bill of Rights would be added by the First Congress.

The idea of adding a bill of rights to the constitution was originally controversial. The idea was that the constitution, as written, did not specifically enumerate or protect the rights of the people, and as such needed an addition to ensure such protection. However, many...