/r/firstamendment

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"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."


Any relevant links or discussions of first amendment issues are welcome. Submissions not dealing with the first amendment or related issues should be posted elsewhere.

Please keep discussions civil and topical. Debate is encouraged, but do so respectfully and follow reddiquette.


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/r/firstamendment

4,247 Subscribers

3

Schools saying bible verses

In my school in Texas it seems to be normal to quote a bible verse during assemblies and stick verses up around the school. I know that Texas has passed an optional bible infused curriculum but this is for elementary, I’m in high school.

Anyways I find it kind of odd because there is a diverse spectrum of religion in my school and while Christianity outweighs most, obviously, I still think it’s unfair to other students who have to sit there and listen to someone pray to god and quote his scripture while many people follow a different faith. I started to wonder if it was even legal to begin with given the first amendment but I wasn’t able to find anything that gave me a clear answer. Can someone provide me with an answer?

9 Comments
2024/11/27
09:31 UTC

4

Trump is asking for mandatory voter ID. Yes or No?

Interesting isn't it?

34 Comments
2024/11/12
03:02 UTC

12

Ignorant Cops Harass Veteran Over Cardboard Sign | Enforce Law Held Unconstitutional in 2019! [The Civil Rights Lawyer]

1 Comment
2024/10/24
00:33 UTC

7

City Government has turned off comments on their posts, would this be considered a first amendment violation?

Both the City’s government page and more recently the police department have shut off comments on all of their posts, is this just a minor annoyance or first amendment violation?

Edit: this is on Facebook.

7 Comments
2024/10/14
07:28 UTC

0

Is this legal?

I found this t-shirt in a surf shop in Florida. It says “Time to take Biden to the train station.” The fans of the TV show Yellow Stone will easily recognize it as the phrase the means “to kill him.” How is this not openly advocating violence on a sitting President? Isn’t that illegal? I am seriously asking.

0 Comments
2024/10/11
21:08 UTC

3

I Audited First Amendment Auditors 🇺🇸

3 Comments
2024/10/10
01:46 UTC

3

Shouting "fire" in a crowded theater

Trying to figure out whether "shouting fire in a crowded theater" is a good test for what is not covered by the first amendment, and why. A couple of days ago Tim Walz used it during the VP debate, and I read some commentary saying that he was wrong, and it's an outdated notion. In particular, I was directed to this article: https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/11/its-time-to-stop-using-the-fire-in-a-crowded-theater-quote/264449/ (paywall, but you can get a free trial). In short, the story it tells is that judge Wendell Holmes used a variation of this phrase in his decision in US vs. Schenck case more than 100 years ago, in which a man was jailed for distributing anti-WWI draft leaflets (which Holmes found as chaos-inducing as shouting "fire" in a theater). For a while that was considered to be the test for First Amendment protection, but in 1969 it was overturned in Brandenburg vs. Ohio, and now a self expression is not protected by the first amendment only if it leads (or is very likely to lead) to an imminent lawless action.

What I'm struggling to understand is why this disqualifies "fire in a theater" as a litmus test. Suppose someone does exactly that, maliciously yells "fire!" in a crowded theater (knowing that there is no fire), a stampede ensues, people get killed or injured. Doesn't this fit the criteria of an imminent lawless action?

p.s.: Please don't consider this a political post, I only mentioned Walz and the VP debate to set the context

11 Comments
2024/10/05
03:03 UTC

7

The generational divide about first amendment auditors is crazy.

Just recently got into First amendment auditors on YouTube after one came to my local post office. I’m not the biggest fan of some of the things they do. I see videos of these people filming in front of a small businesses just to annoy the owner and that annoys me because it directly affects their business, that being said they obviously have the right to do so. But one thing that amazes me is how much more boomers and gen Xers care. I saw a video of a lady yelling at some guys for filming on a street corner by her restaurant, a 20 something year old got her to stop by saying it really doesn’t matter. Every video these boomers threaten them, sometimes actually assault them, and almost every single one of them use the typical “ get a job” response it’s crazy. Meanwhile the same videos have Gen z kids having convos with them or just ignoring them and going about their day.

5 Comments
2024/09/25
03:04 UTC

8

Can you help me find the video of the young black man/kid who refused to give ID or even speak?

They put him in the cruiser. He had on a blue shirt. He waited them out. Video is older. Maybe four years? He remained silent. I think he was just hanging out in a park. Police harassed him then ended saying "I guess we'll just have to list you as John Doe" then cut him loose. Help!

6 Comments
2024/08/31
20:06 UTC

3

Auditors

Does anyone remember the video of a guy who is an auditor and he is standing on the sidewalk and he gets approached by multiple cops who are trying to screw with him, he eventually gets them to call in the Sargent and when the Sargent gets there he immediately recognized the guy and pulls the cops away being like you all are fking morons you're gonna get us all fired over this

Been trying to find this video to show someone 😭 please help me find it.

5 Comments
2024/08/31
06:43 UTC

8

i was at Boston city hall the other day when one of those first amendments auditors came

i really wanted to see the video but i never got the chance to ask them what their socials were but they were in city hall 8/26/2024 if anyone knows anything can you comment their socials😂😂 i wanted a good laugh

2 Comments
2024/08/27
14:00 UTC

7

Small town politics

I have property in a rural area and the township supervisor and treasurer are assholes, they don’t like being questioned. They both use their personal Facebook pages for their office use. They have blocked myself and other constituents. Who do I go about reporting them to? As I know this is a violation of my first amendment rights. Any help is appreciated

6 Comments
2024/08/14
17:46 UTC

1

2024: A Year of Police Violence - The Grim Reality

0 Comments
2024/07/27
17:09 UTC

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