The Pros And Cons Of The First Amendment

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The 1st Amendment guarantees the individual the freedom of religion, speech, press, to assemble, and to petition the government. Freedom of speech allows for people to partake in the democratic process by allowing them to speak their beliefs and political ideals. Without the freedom, there couldn’t be a democracy (Ginsberg, 2014). Though there are different forms of speech, some that are protected and some that are not. There are different ways of looking at the 1st Amendment. One way of looking at it is that it absolutely guarantees the person’s right to speak their mind. On the other hand, it can be viewed that the 1st Amendment can have limitations. This brings up different controversies over what is and is not protected. For example, the burning of the U.S flag has been deemed protected. Even though it is protected people feel like it should be banned, and numerous attempts have also been made to ban it. Another …show more content…

While newspapers have a lot of freedom, broadcasted news can have more regulations against it. Such as news stations not being allowed to broadcast information of important trials in order to provide a fair trial. Students also have limitations on their freedom of speech, such as not being allowed to advocate doing something illegal. Limitations are also based on the standard of public safety (Ginsberg, 2014). If what a person says or does presents a danger to society, they are not protected by the 1st Amendment. One such example is yelling “fire” in a movie theater full of people. The 2nd Amendment is the right to bear arms. It was written in mind for people to act as a militia to back the government. The reasoning was that the government could not be relied upon to give every member of a militia a firearm. As a result, those eligible to serve were to have their own in the event they were called upon (Ginsberg, 2014). However, there have been different views on the 2nd