General Theory of the First Amendment - Essay Example

First Amendment The First Amendment of the United s Constitution is the amendment that provides the rights and freedoms thatthe USA citizens should enjoy without interference from the state, reinforcing the provisions o the bill of rights. The First Amendment covers all activities in the federal, state and the local government level, and all such levels of government are bound by the amendment, which takes preference over any other local legislation that could speak to the same subject enacted at those levels. The rights and freedoms guaranteed under the First Amendment are divided into two categories; the freedom of expression and association, and the rights and freedom of religion (Emerson, 877). The freedom of expression is divided into four aspects of rights that are granted to the USA citizens, and which the government cannot restrict or interfere. First, under the freedom of expression as granted to the US citizens under this amendment, all the US citizens have the freedom of speech, which means that an individual cannot be restricted by the government from speaking on any matter related to the USA, through expression of own opinions. Thus, the government cannot restrict the USA citizens from commenting on any matter of the nation, regardless of the level of sensitivity of the matter, because the constitution has allowed them to speak on any issue that they may find to be of interest. Secondly, the freedom of expression also grants the US citizens the right to petition the government on any issue of national or regional importance, where the citizens might feel that the government has not addressed the issue as it should, or where they feel the government is conducting itself in a manner that is not consistent with the USA values (Emerson, 892). Thirdly, the First Amendment protects the right and freedom of press, meaning that the government cannot sensor the press in the USA, since the citizens have the right to be served by the press (Emerson, 922). In this respect, regardless of the nature or sensitivity of an issue to the nation, the government cannot censor the press from disseminating the information to the citizens, where such information is obtained legally, ethically and in the interest of the public. Finally, the right and freedom of expression also guarantees the USA citizens the freedom of assembly, where an individual can join any group that is of interest. Therefore, the government cannot restrict individuals from joining legal entities such as political parties of their choice, civil societies or trade unions (Emerson, 904). Thus, the USA citizens are free to chose whichever entity they would want to associate with, and they have right to assemble under the umbrella of the entity in which they are members, for the sake of promoting the activities of the body entity, as well as using such entities as body entities to petition the government to act or stop acting in a certain way. The second aspect of the First Amendment covers the freedom of religion. Under this aspect of the First Amendment, the government is prohibited from legislating and making a certain religion as the official USA religion, or from favoring one religion over the others (Emerson, 879). Thus, the First Amendment provides for separation of the church as an institution from the state, while also prohibiting the government from interfering with an individual’s practice of his/her religion. Therefore, the government is required to provide very solid and strong justifications for which it can limit any of the freedoms guaranteed to the citizens under the First Amendment. Such justifications are associated with any illegal activity by an individual within the USA, which may include causing violence, breaching peace, incitement, illegal advocacy and obscenity (Emerson, 916). Therefore, despite the fact that the First Amendment guarantees the USA citizens the right to express themselves without being limited or restricted by the government, the constitution also espouses that the citizens will exercise these freedoms with a high level of responsibility. Thus, an individual’s expression of his/her freedoms and rights does not affect the ability of the others to enjoy their rights and exercise their freedoms (Emerson, 944). In addition, under the provision for the right and freedom of speech, the level of protection of the citizens in exercising this right is also limited to the forums that the individuals are in, such that some of the expression of speech that would be acceptable in certain forums can be prohibited in other forums. The First Amendment has afforded equal rights and freedoms to both the citizenry and the media so that neither the media nor the citizenry has better rights than the other, when it comes to the expression f their freedoms of speech. The other right that is guaranteed by the First Amendment, but limited in the manner in which it can be exercised is the freedom and right of assembly. While the law allows individuals to meet and gather for any reason that could be of their interest, it has limited such gathering to only peaceful and lawful purposes (Emerson, 931). Therefore, while the right and freedom of assembly has been provided by the First Amendment, this freedom is not absolute, because it does not encompass the right of social association. Therefore, the government has the right and duty to prohibit individuals from meeting for the purpose of promoting illegal activities. However, the government is also prohibited by the rights of assembly under the First Amendment, to require a group to register its members, or to deny individuals their benefits based on their present or previous membership to certain groups (Emerson, 936). The courts however can offer an exception is this respect, where it is found that the interest of the public to have the group register its membership overrides the consideration for interference of the group’s member rights by the government. The government is also prohibited from compelling individuals to belong to certain groups, profess certain beliefs or express themselves in a manner that is not consistent with their personal beliefs. Similarly, the right and freedom of petitioning the government must also be exercised with a high level of responsibility. The fundamental objective of the freedom of petitioning the government, as provided under the First Amendment, is to give the USA citizens an avenue through which they can seek redress from the government on certain matters (Emerson, 927). Thus, the citizens can join hands in asking the government to act on certain wrongs through imposing its sanctions or through applying the court process, where such wrongs are found to affect the overall welfare of the public. However, while petitioning the government, the First Amendment espouses that the public can only use legal means and refrain from acting in a manner that would be inconsistent with the constitution. Therefore, people can join together and seek change from the government, but this can only be done in a legal and peaceful manner (Emerson, 891). While the First Amendment has provided for essential rights and freedoms to the USA citizens, it has also partly contributed to the social disorder currently facing the American society. This is because, there are very thin boundaries between exercising freedoms and rights guaranteed in the First Amendment and some illegalities. The right and freedom of religion has been converted by some cults and some perverse organizations into the source of their legal backing to continue perpetrating social ills. For example, many terrorist cells that cause havoc within the nation act on the basis of associating with certain religions and faiths, and the government cannot ban such religious beliefs, even when they tend to threaten the overall welfare of the public. Works Cited Emerson, Thomas. "Toward a General Theory of the First Amendment". Yale Law Journal 72, 5 (1963): 877–956. Print. Read More