OUR FIRST AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION IS TRULY UNIQUE IN ALL THE COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD

Anthony Lewis, winner of two Pulitzer Prizes has written a thought-proking and historically correct book on our unique First Amendment and the difficult times it has faced since its inception. It did not take hold when it was added to the Constitution, he says. It was more than a century later that the courts finally began to make this the underpinning of our rule of law. Thank heavens we have this to protect our rights!
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is a part of the United States Bill of Rights. It prohibits the federal legislature from making laws: respecting an establishment of religion  or that prohibit free exercise of religion; laws that infringe the freedom of speech; infringe the freedom of the press, limit the right to assemble peaceably; or limit the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

The courts have interpreted it as applying more broadly. As the first sentence in the body of the Constitution reserves all law-making ("legislative") authority to Congress, the courts have held that the First Amendment's terms also extend to the executive and judicial branches. Additionally, in the 20th century the Supreme Court has held that the Due Process clause of the 1868 Fourteenth Amendment "incorporates" the limitations of the First Amendment to restrict also the states. The original text of the Constitution generated some opposition on the grounds that it did not include adequate guarantees of civil liberties. In response, the First Amendment, along with the rest of the Bill of Rights, was adopted. The process of adoption by ratifications by the requisite number of states was completed on December 15, 1791.

It was not, however, until the middle and later years of the twentieth century that the Supreme Court began to interpret the establishment and free exercise clauses in such a manner as to restrict substantially the promotion of religion by state governments. The Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren expanded free speech protections in the 1960s, though there were exceptions. The divisive issue of flag burning, as a form of protest, came before the Supreme Court in 1989, as it decided Texas vs. Johnson. The federal government and the states have long been permitted to restrict obscenity or pornography. The First Amendment was one of the first guarantees of religious freedom: neither the English Bill of Rights, nor the French Declaration of Rights, contains an equivalent guarantee. Freedom of speech in the United States is more extensive than nearly any other nation in the world. How lucky we in the United States are to have this solid freedoms law. We should fight vigorously to keep it strong and true.