Topics: Events
- Banned Books Week
Banned Books Week is intended to make the public more aware of the frequent challenges to the First Amendment’s guarantees of freedom of speech and press...
- Berkeley Free Speech Movement
The Berkeley Free Speech Movement refers to college students who in the 1960s challenged many University of California campus regulations limiting their First...
- Chicago Seven Trial
The Chicago Seven Trial of 1969 convicted anti-war demonstrators for intent to incite a riot. Many said the law under which they were convicted violated the...
- Civil Rights Movement
The expressive actions and protests during the Civil Rights era led to considerable growth in First Amendment court precedents, including areas of association...
- Civil War, U.S.
Abraham Lincoln and his administration restricted constitutional liberties during the Civil War, including freedom of speech and freedom of the press...
- Constitutional Convention of 1787
The 1787 Constitutional Convention built the U.S. Constitution. The constitution did not include explicit protection of First Amendment rights. A Bill of Rights...
- Free Speech During Wartime
Freedom of speech often suffers during times of war. Patriotism at times devolves into jingoism and civil liberties take a backseat to security and order...
- McCarthyism
The term McCarthyism described the practice of publicly accusing government employees of political disloyalty and using unsavory investigatory methods to...
- National Prayer Breakfast
The National Prayer Breakfast attracts political and religious leaders from around the nation and the world. Some worry that the event borders on violation of...
- Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation appealed to the founders of America, and some of its concepts of individualism and free expression of religion are incorporated into...
- Red Scare
In two anti-Communist periods in the United States, known as Red Scares, First Amendment rights providing for free expression and free association were...
- Romantic and Transcendental Movements
Transcendental and Romantic writers believed that government may not interfere with freedom of expression. Some First Amendment court opinions have roots in...
- Salem Witch Trials
The Salem witch trials are a testament to the importance of due process in protecting individuals against false accusations, which are not protected by the...
- School Violence
Since school violence has become a national issue, courts have had to determine whether student speech is a 'true threat' or protected by the First Amendment...
- Scopes Monkey Trial
Although Tennessee upheld a law prohibiting the teaching of evolution after the Scopes Monkey Trial, the Supreme Court later said a similar law violated the...
- Trial of Reuben Crandall (1835-1836)
In 1835, Reuben Crandall, was prosecuted for seditious libel for possessing abolitionist literature by the author of The Star-Spangled Banner, Francis Scott Key...
- Vietnam War
The Vietnam War quickly became the focus of symbolic speech and major protests that resulted in increased government attempts to limit First Amendment...
- World War I
Cases challenging the Espionage Act, used in World War I to prosecute those who objected to the war, laid the foundation for modern interpretation of the First...
- World War II
During World War II, the Supreme Court began to apply the clear and present danger standard of First Amendment protection to dissident political speech...