The First Amendment free essay sample

An overview of the freedom of speech rights and the exceptions ruled by the Supreme Court. This paper examines the freedom of speech protection right as stated in the First Amendment to the United States. The writer provides an overview of the major exceptions to the First Amendment as ruled by the Supreme Court in issues such as banning tobacco advertisement and ruling against free political speech. In the beginning of our nations history, there was just a constitution. This document did no more than lay out the basic format that our government should take: it would be divided into three branches, it would be elected in such and such a way, and conduct its business in this fashion or that. The entire arrangement of the government, with its division of power, and its limited control over the states, was arranged so that it could not abridge the rights of its citizens. We will write a custom essay sample on The First Amendment or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page However, our founding fathers quickly realized that there was a problem with this arrangement. While it was true that the three branches would be accountable for one another, but what would happen if all three decided to pass into law violations of the citizens rights? At that point, they put into the constitution a number of amendments carefully crafted to forbid the government from violating the basic rights of its citizens. Among the very first of these inalienable rights to be recognized to the Constitution was the right to freedom of speech. The first amendment reads: ?Congress shall make no lawabridging the freedom of speech, or of the press? However, this right has been consistently violated and sidestepped throughout American history. Most recently, the first Amendment has been violated by bans on Tobacco Advertising. Regardless of what one feels about smoking habits or the legal use of mind-altering substances, there are many reasons how and why these bans violate first Amendment rights.