The First Article Us Bill Of Rights

The First Articles from the U.S. Bill of Rights Article I “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.” Example: Flag desecration The issue of flag desecration as a form of protest came before the Supreme Court in Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989). The Supreme Court reversed the conviction of Gregory Lee Johnson for burning the flag by a 5-4 vote. Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. asserted that "if there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea offensive or disagreeable." Example: The right to assemble In the precedent setting 1937 Supreme Court case De Jonge v. State of Oregon, Dirk De Jonge had been convicted for teaching communist doctrine to a gathering of 300 people. The Court reversed his conviction, observing that "the right to peaceable assembly is a right cognate to those of free speech and free press and is equally fundamental." In other words, said the court, you can’t deny the right to assemble “ without violating those fundamental principles which lie at the base of all civil and political institutions." More profoundly, the court ruled that "the holding of meetings for peaceable political action cannot be proscribed." Example: Peaceful Assembly Protection for All “Peaceable” remains the operative word. The First Amendment protects peaceful, not violent, assembly, although there must be a "clear and present danger" or an "imminent incitement of lawlessness" in order for government to restrict assembly rights. Generally, though, the Supreme Court maintains that it is imperative to protect the right to peaceful assembly, even for those with whose speech many may disagree, such as Ku Klux Klan (KKK) gatherings, which many perceive as hateful, ruling (in National Socialist Party v. Skokie, 1977) that "it is better to allow those who preach racial hatred to expend their venom in rhetoric rather than to be panicked into embarking on the dangerous course of permitting the government to decide what its citizens may say and hear."