The First Amendment is one of the most popular among all because it has been discussed most on electronic media, print media, social media and even in our education system, our kids has been taught about it most as compare to other 1st then amendments. This is because of its importance in our daily life. Even if you are an immigrant and applying for nationality then you must aware about the First Amendment of United States of America because the officer may ask you questions about it.
First Amendment Definition
The first amendment text from constitution is bit difficult to understand because of law language but in easy words it has been defined as:
“The government of American cannot make or introduce a law which prohibits the freedom of religion, free speech, press, peacefully assemble and right to petition.”
Now if you look at the definition, its sounds a perfect place to live but these freedoms are not really absolute and comes up with some limitations except the freedom of religion. These limitations or restrictions has been only set to control people. So you are only "free" under 1st amendment as long as you are following the rules and laws which are related to these first amendment 5 rights.
First Amendment Summary
To understand that why these 5 rights are not absolute, you need to understand the summary of first amendment free exercise clause. This will give you an idea about your rights mentioned under bill of rights while you can protect yourself from breaching any of the law which is strictly related to the 1st amendment.
1. Meaning of US Freedom of Religion Amendment:
America is one of those country around the world where you can easily found the people from every religion. This has been done due to the first Amendment which allow people to practice their religion without any barriers. Among all other types of freedoms mentioned under constitution law of America, this is absolute freedom. This means that you can practice your religion and worship in any style as long as it does not affect the beliefs of other. This section also allow you to preach or spread your religious teaching through proper channels.
2. Freedom of Speech vs. Freedom of Hate Speech:
Among first amendment rights list, the freedom of speech has been abused most in America. This is true that you have right to express whatever you want to but it does not mean that you can cross the limits which has been suggested by the constitution of United States of America. There is very thin line between freedom of speech and free of hate speech. So, freedom of speech does not really means that you are free to say whatever you want and whenever you want. You can't use this right of yours by threatening speech against somebody.
3. Define Freedom of Press in America:
There is not much difference between freedom of press and freedom of speech except the freedom of press is considered something as "official" statement which has been communicate through electronic and social media and through published materials. Like freedom of speech, the freedom of press is also limited. You can't use slander against somebody or intentionally smear their reputation to do them harm. This means that you can go against media or the person on social media who is publishing something which affects your reputation, reputation of your business or reputation of public generally.
4. Right to Assemble and Protest Peacefully:
This constitutional right allows you to gather people in groups and perform some type of legal activity. Now this can be included to march against the government, a law, your employer, a company or anything else. But this should be in a peaceful way only which means that you cannot just get a group of people together, there are rules you need to follow but you do have a constitutional right to be able to get groups together sometimes. It just involves putting together a simple permit from the area that you want to assemble.
5. Freedom to Petition Definition and Example:
Under the right of petition, you are allowed to petition the government against something which you do not like. This could be done through several ways. For example, you can ask your representatives in Congress and asked them to vote, you can circulate a petition and get signed by the citizen (this can be done online as well) or you can march peacefully on road. The popular example of freedom of petition in America is civil right movement, the labor movement, the movement to make gay marriage legal and so on.
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