First Amendment to the United States Constitution

Case Name: Anthony Douglas Elonis, Petitioner, v. United States., No. 13-983 (2014) Factual History: Anthony Douglas Elonis actively uses Facebook, a social networking Web site. After seven years of marriage, Elonis’s wife left him and took their two young children with her. Elonis changed his user name on Facebook to a fake name. He posted a threating photo of one of his co-workers and himself on Halloween. After his co-worker’s found out about the photo, Elonis posted a status threating to…

School prayer has remained a subject of national debate in the United States throughout the 20th Century. Engel v. Vitale ushered in an era in which school prayer was effectively forbidden; however, with the passage of the Equal Access Act in 1984, some forms of school prayer were again sanctioned. The Department of Education now issues a guide to help school administrators practically apply congressional laws and Supreme Court decisions concerning school prayer. An international perspective…

The 4th amendment protects US citizens from the government and other citizens from invading people’s privacy. Robert Westbrook gave his computer to Gateway Computer services for servicing. While the computer was being serviced one of the technicians found child pornography on Westbrook’s computer. The technician reported the images to the police who came and inspected the files. Once the officers saw the pictures they obtained a warrant to search the entire computer. Westbrook did not give up…

dealings with people who have criticized them for not considering those who may be offended by the content presented. The fact is, as long as it stands an artist who wants to express an idea or emotion is free to do whatever they want under the First Amendment. The argument of…

received $240,000 in ransom from the elder Sinatra and served his sentence is stating that Sinatra, Jr is not entitled to receive any monies from the book or movie rights because the crime was committed over forty years ago and it is against his first Amendment rights. The decision is expected in the coming…

Another point worth to mention here is that the past and current definition of marriage on the books of any state laws in the Union never specified of men and women. For example, the Wex legal dictionary defines marriage as: "The combination of a couple as husband and wife. The basic elements are: (1) both parties have the legal capacity to marry, (2) the consent of both parties, and (3) a marriage contract as the law requires. " The reason for this definition of marriage says nothing about the…

citizens, but even though it is a right in the first amendment many people take it for granted and some take it too far. The Phelps family are of those who took their right of freedom of speech and used it in a negative way. The Phelps family are the founders of the Westboro Baptist church, yet their practice of religion has nothing in relation to common Baptist churches. The Phelps family practice a rather negative form of protesting with signs that state “God hates fags” and “Thank God for…

Shield laws are enacted in 49 states and the District of Colombia (Riker, 2015), based on the First Amendment guarantee of Freedom of the Press (Shield Laws, n.d.). Although, most states have enacted shield laws for their journalists, there does not exist a federal journalist shield law. This is because the U.S. Supreme Court does not want to interpret the First Amendment as mandating a news reporter 's privilege (Shield Laws, n.d.). The media is supposed to have the role as the country 's…

court decided the First Amendment establishment clause did not ban states from having a religion. Jaffree’s case challenge to the religious laws of Alabama was rejected. The Court of Appeals reversed the decision and the case went to the Supreme Court (O’Brien 791). 3. Question of the Court Does Alabama’s Statute allowing prayer and meditation violate…

ruling of Buckley v. Valeo and the conformation in Citizens United v. FEC, that political spending should not be restricted because it is form of free speech. Are all men still equal? Those who have the largest bankroll now have the “loudest” political voice. The Supreme Court first ruled that political spending should not be restricted because it was a form of free speech in Buckley v. Valeo.…