Banned Books Week is intended to make the public more aware of the frequent
challenges to the First Amendment’s guarantees of freedom of speech and
press.
The Berkeley Free Speech Movement refers to college students who in the
1960s challenged many University of California campus regulations limiting
their First Amendment rights.
The storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and the related “Stop the
Steal” campaign has set off a number of First Amendment and legal issues
involving free speech, defamation and even the right to run for reelection.
The Chicago Seven Trial of 1969 convicted anti-war demonstrators for intent
to incite a riot. Many said the law under which they were convicted
violated the First Amendment.
The expressive actions and protests during the Civil Rights era led to
considerable growth in First Amendment court precedents, including areas of
association and libel.
The 1787 Constitutional Convention built the U.S. Constitution. The
constitution did not include explicit protection of First Amendment rights.
A Bill of Rights was adopted later.
Freedom of speech often suffers during times of war. Patriotism at times
devolves into jingoism and civil liberties take a backseat to security and
order.
The term McCarthyism described the practice of publicly accusing government
employees of political disloyalty and using unsavory investigatory methods
to prosecute them.
The National Prayer Breakfast attracts political and religious leaders from
around the nation and the world. Some worry that the event borders on
violation of the First Amendment.
The Protestant Reformation appealed to the founders of America, and some of
its concepts of individualism and free expression of religion are
incorporated into the First Amendment.
In two anti-Communist periods in the United States, known as Red Scares,
First Amendment rights providing for free expression and free association
were endangered.
Transcendental and Romantic writers believed that government may not
interfere with freedom of expression. Some First Amendment court opinions
have roots in these movements.
The Salem witch trials are a testament to the importance of due process in
protecting individuals against false accusations, which are not protected
by the First Amendment.
Since school violence has become a national issue, courts have had to
determine whether student speech is a ‘true threat’ or protected by the
First Amendment.
Although Tennessee upheld a law prohibiting the teaching of evolution after
the Scopes Monkey Trial, the Supreme Court later said a similar law
violated the First Amendment.
In 1835, Reuben Crandall, was prosecuted for seditious libel for possessing
abolitionist literature by the author of The Star-Spangled Banner, Francis
Scott Key.
The Vietnam War quickly became the focus of symbolic speech and major
protests that resulted in increased government attempts to limit First
Amendment protections.
Cases challenging the Espionage Act, used in World War I to prosecute those
who objected to the war, laid the foundation for modern interpretation of
the First Amendment.
During World War II, the Supreme Court began to apply the clear and present
danger standard of First Amendment protection to dissident political speech.
