When it comes to the United States Constitution, the first ten amendments are most generally known as the Bill of Rights. These specific ten amendments were brought to congress in the year of 1789. These amendments were intended to guard the American citizen’s rights, as well as their property (Laws, 2015). In addition, these amendments were supposed to decrease the amount of power that the government had over the people. These original amendments were affirmed in 1791 through the method of voting; however they had to be affirmed individually utilizing a three fourths superiority vote of each one of the states in America (Laws, 2015). The two amendments that I will be further discussing within this paper are the Fifth and First Amendment.…
of church and state: Alex Newkirk The First Amendment of the U.S. constitution prohibits 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, or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. (U.S. Constitution) This means that our government guarantees United States citizens religious freedom. It does not say…
The United States of America is one of the few nations that, at least at one point in time, strived for a complete and irreparable rift between the clergy and the governing body (Ingersoll 4). Despite the secular nature of the constitution, an increasing number of United States citizens are pushing for the acknowledgement that the United States is a Christian nation. The religious right mistakenly cites documents such as the Declaration of Independence to justify their claims; however, the only…
flag as others chanted. Johnson was prosecuted for flag desecration that violated a state statute. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed Johnson’s conviction, and held that flag burning was an expression of speech. Texas appealed to the Supreme Court (O’Brien 702). 3. Questions of the Court Is flag burning protected by the First Amendment? 4. Holding Yes. The decision was 5-4 in favor of Gregory Johnson 5. Opinions of the Court Justice Brennan delivered the Opinion of the Court.…
should definitely be allowed to be expressed in schools, because religious persecution has never been, and is certainly not acceptable in this day in age. Not only this, but when spoken about, Christianity should be spoken about in a positive aspect. There are plenty of reasons that could be given in order to justify why Christianity should be allowed to be expressed in school. The first reason obviously being that the first amendment in the United States Constitution guarantees the right to…
there a proper separation of church and state in our school system? Schools are meant to be a place where students can learn the required fields of study in a discrimination-free environment. This implies that there should be no preference in what the students choose to worship. This idea is called “separation of church and state” and was coined by Thomas Jefferson when he originally wrote the idea of a “wall of separation between the church and the state” in a letter…
Question 1) Oregon vs. Smith, is a United States Supreme Court case that determined wither or not the state could reject unemployment benefits to a person fired for violating a state’s narcotic prohibition, even if the use of the drug was part of a religious ritual. Legally states have the right to accommodate some illegal acts done in pursuit of religious beliefs, but they are not required to make accommodations. This made The Supreme Court decision a major event in Native American religious…
The United States path to freedom was long and arduous. It took almost two hundred years to establish a firm constitution, the limits it had on people, and how much power the government had over citizens’ freedom. On the path to freedom, many people suffered. Eugene V. Debs was sentenced to 10 years in prison simply for talking to a group of workers about something the government disagreed with (Eugene V. Debs). Alice Paul, an early feminist, was imprisoned, beaten, and tortured on multiple…
It has been found that members of the Republican Party support the passing of an amendment that bans desecration of the flag much more than Democratic do (Carroll). In the poll done by USA Today, it found that when random citizens were asked whether they favored or opposed the idea to let the government make it illegal to burn the flag, 56% of them supported the idea while only 41% were against it (Carroll). Also found within the poll was that those that support the banning of flag burning have…
“The first 10 Amendments to the Constitution, or more appropriately, the first eight, are called the Bill of Rights.” (Kanovitz, 2015, p. 20) The First Amendment protects the freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, right to petition, and right to assemble. Although many believe that the first amendment gives full protection, there are certain limits placed upon it. Freedom of speech has limitations when it comes to obscenity, inciting immediate unlawful action, and using…