First Amendment Project — An Introduction

/ Greg Miller

The information in this project is not presented as a laundry list of complaints against the United States, its citizens, or even its government. This project is intended to be an eyes-wide exploration of the sometimes torturous path the country traced to keep free expression intact and where it is today. While some could complain that what happened 100 years ago isn’t relevant today, that doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate where we have come from to better understand where we’re going.

In that same vein, let me add this — a vacation isn’t just the destination. It’s often the journey to get there. That is what distinguishes between an event and an experience. Similarly, examining the United States’ struggle with the First Amendment can’t be fully appreciated without taking in the long view.

Our founders took a dim view of government overreach, as that was (in large part) what alienated American colonists from the British government. So it was that when they took up the serious work of crafting a new government, they ensured adequate guardrails existed to prevent such a re-occurrence. Hence, the Bill of Rights to the Constitution encapsulated what rights the government cannot take away. The first is the most important of these (in the context of this project).

The First Amendment

The First Amendment is deceptively simple in content but rich in context. I won’t replicate the entire text here, as the links in the reference section below should provide more complete information. That said, this project is focused on the freedom of speech and press clauses:

  • Freedom of speech: Congress cannot censor or restrict our right to express ourselves freely, including through spoken words, writings, and artistic expression. This protects our right to disagree with the government and to share our opinions, even if they are unpopular.
  • Freedom of the press: The government cannot censor or restrict the publication of information or opinion through newspapers, books, or other forms of media. This allows for a free flow of information and diverse viewpoints.

Note the operative phrase in these sections is “cannot censor or restrict.” While the term “restrict” has a reasonably clear meaning (e.g., “limit access”), the term “censorship” does not.

Censorship

To censor something is to “remove the parts of a book, movie, etc., that are considered to be offensive, immoral, or a political threat” (Oxford English Dictionary). In this project, however, I will use the term censorship in a more general manner, which means not only removing or deleting information but also limiting access to it (through its absence). While it can be argued that the terms are distinctly different, the net result is the same.

With that said, we should also understand the difference between self-censorship and imposed censorship. We practice self-censorship when we choose to avoid or remove material that we find objectionable. Just as I decide not to hurl obscenities at the dinner table, I also don’t want such content decorating the walls of my home or blaring at me from the stereo cabinet. Where things get a bit trickier is when the obscenities are hammering their way through the walls of my child’s bedroom or lurk unbeknownst in the pages of a book (oh, the horror!). While I am within my rights to march into my spawn’s domicile and seize the offending media (parental rights, whoo-hoo!), the prospect of someone else (like the government) marching into my domicile, slapping a gag on me, raiding my CD collection, and burning my books is another matter entirely. And yet, our history is replete with efforts to do precisely that, and from what I can tell, we’re still doing it.

Those efforts have directly impacted our right to free expression. More on that in the next post.

First Amendment References:

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