The Government is Infringing on the First Amendment Rights of the People

The first amendment was accepted on the 15th of December 1791 by the founding fathers of the United States of America because they realized that without certain rights the people of the country would be helpless when faced with certain issues. This is why The first amendment says; “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.” There are a few key words which show what freedoms are professed in this amendment and they are : religion, speech, press, peaceably assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. These key terms are protected by law and the Constitution in such a way that nothing should be able to hinder them or object to them in any way as interpreted by The Supreme Court which shows the extent of protection of these rights. To understand this first amendment more one must first understand the key terms which define these rights as well as what each of the key terms refer to. It should also be understood how the rights work, how it is supposed to work and how it is withheld from operating according to the original interpretations. When these pieces of information and interpretations are understood then and only then can a person fully understand and appreciate and amendment that guarantees what many other countries do not allow their populations.

The key words that are referred to within the first amendment are; religion, freedom of speech, freedom of press, peaceable assemble. These few phrases are the base for many rights which are denied to many people and are the reason why the Pilgrims came to America as well. A simple synopsis of the first amendment would be; “..an amendment to the Constitution of the United States guaranteeing the right of free expression; includes freedom of assembly and freedom of the press and freedom of religion and freedom of speech” (http://dict.die.net/first%20amendment/, Definition, first amendment.). For the interest of the entire people that is entailed within the country, there is not specific religion named when referring to ‘freedom of religion’ so what the government is actually is doing is guaranteeing for a freedom of belief for various groups as well as freedom of worship which is considered by many to be a basic human right. This is “the right to choose or not to choose a religion without any interference by the government” ( http://www.answers.com/topic/freedom-of-religion). When referring to ‘freedom of speech’ there is an understanding which transcends to everyone, it tells us that we have a right to speak and let our voices carry to others. We have the right guaranteed by the First Amendment, to the US Constitution to express out beliefs and ideas without restrictions from our government. The ‘freedom of press’ was placed as a guarantee once again by the US Constitution to gather, publish and then finally distribute information and ideas without government restrictions. This is there as a reminder that is was publications that worked against the law to have their voices heard that informed and educated people before and during the war for independence of the happening of the country and the unfairness of Britain. And finally last but not least is the right to ‘peaceable assemble’ referring to the right to hold public meetings and