First Amendment

At the time the Constitution was ratified, many felt it to be an incomplete document. Many pushed for a bill of rights prior to the collective consideration by the states but this proved impossible. The Constitution still passed and it became the issue of the first congress to create a body of amendments to guarantee Americans several core rights.

* James Madison, the father of the Bill of Rights, introduced a set of ten amendments in 1789. The legislation was ratified in 1791 and the central creation of American jurisprudence began. Many consider the 1st amendment to encompass everything that the American nation came to embody.

* The first amendment enumerates the right to; speech, religion, press, petition and assembly. This is not to suggest that 1st amendment rights are absolute or that they have not been impinged upon time and time again.

* Probably the first gross mistreatment to the first amendment came during John Adam’s presidency. Due to growing discontent throughout the states, individuals around Adams urged him to pass the Alien and Sedition Act. Among other things, this act sat in direct conflict to several 1st amendment guarantees by disallowing any criticism of the national government. Adams was scorned by this measure and it remained the worst action of his otherwise illustrious career.

* The guarantee of the five central tenants can not be endless and ever since their ascension into law, several legal measures have been established to reign in these first amendment rights. Throughout the course of American history all of the 1st amendment rights appear on a sliding scale of impingement.

* During war time, all of these rights have been ignored over and over again. For example, war protests during the 1960s were often met with swift reverberations from police power. Another example is illustrated during the red scare of the 1950s. Anyone perceived to be or even associated with communist ideals could be jailed or at the very least, publicly embarrassed. Obscenity also poses difficulty to absolute 1st amendment guarantees. Court cases and laws dealing with obscenity or pornography often receive skepticism due to their inherent impingement of first amendment guarantees.

Court cases dealing with 1st amendment rights continue to come up on a yearly basis. Decisions are often overturned or enforced, laying down yet another layer of interpretation for the implcations of the first amendment of the Bill of Rights.