The First Amendment protects five fundamental freedoms in the U.S.: freedom of religion, speech, press, the right to assemble peacefully and the right to petition the government.
Nancy Costello is a director of the First Amendment law clinic and a professor of law at Michigan State University, College of Law. She explains what current affairs are happening, regarding Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press.
Press offices in the Pentagon are under the threat of being fired if they were to exercise their First Amendment rights and express things about Trump that he doesn’t like, which he is trying to restrict their rights and have their story checked before publication.
“Journalism is supposed to be independent of government censorship,” Costello said.
Trying to change how much and what you’re allowed to express in your writing has affected people’s jobs and made them feel their rights are being limited.
“99.9% of the press corps at the Pentagon walked out last week because they refused to sign this oath that they would do this,” Costello said.
The conflict surrounding the First Amendment is particularly important, even for high school students worldwide.
“If the high school newspaper accidentally printed something false, say about your principal. The principal is arguably a limited purpose public figure because they’re a relatively high-up official in your local region. That principal would have to prove that the school newspaper acted with actual malice, and that protects you,” Costello said.
Everyone’s First Amendment Rights are important because they protect each individual from the fear of censorship or punishment.
“The foundational reason for why the framers of the Constitution adopted the First Amendment is because they wanted to give not just to Americans, but to anyone in America, the right to criticize the government.
“Before America was a country and still under England’s control, people criticize the monarchy of England, or they would be fined or charged with sedition. They could be thrown in jail for this, so any type of speech that was critical of the government or the King would be penalized,” Costello said.
