First Amendment

We the People do ordain and establish this US Constitution

Standards of review

Rational basis review Intermediate scrutiny Strict scrutiny

Other legal theories

Substantive due process State action doctrine

Amendments

I - II - III - IV - V - XIV

Defining moments in law

Hollingsworth v. Perry Brown v. Board of Education Lawrence v. Texas Pentagon Papers Commerce Clause

Interpretation

Originalism Purposive Responsive Textualism

Issues

Civil rights Bill of Rights (United States) Gay rights Commerce rights Free speech v - t - e

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution reads:

“”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.

Parsing the First Amendment

• Freedom of speech
• Freedom of the press
• Freedom of religion

• Establishment clause
• Free exercise clause

• Freedom of assembly
• Right to petition for a redress of grievances (i.e. the right to take somebody to court)

Incorporation

The exact wording of the First Amendment only restricts the lawmaking powers of Congress; as originally implemented, it put no such restrictions on the lawmaking powers of the States. Virginia, for example, still had an official State religion for several years after the First Amendment was ratified. However, modern interpretations of the Fourteenth Amendment frequently extend the Constitutional limits on lawmaking power to the States as well. This is called "incorporation."

All of the various clauses of the First Amendment have been incorporated against the states by the Supreme Court. The first to be incorporated was freedom of speech in 1925, in Gitlow v. New York, and the most recent was the right to petition for redress of grievances in 1996, in Romer v. Evans.

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U.S. Constitution articles on RationalWiki

v - t - e

Preamble • Articles: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7

Bill of Rights: I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X - Further amendments: XI XII XIII XIV XV XVI XVII XVIII XIX XX XXI XXII XXIII XXIV XXV XXVI XXVII

Pending: Congressional Apportionment - Titles of Nobility - Corwin - Child Labor - Disputed: Equal Rights - Failed: - D.C. Voting Rights

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Related topics

Interpretation: Originalism - Textualism - Responsive interpretation • Modes of review: Rational basis - Intermediate scrutiny - Strict scrutiny
Other stuff: Articles of Confederation - Establishment Clause - Gun control