First Amendment Quotes - Page 7

• I believe that the Framers of the Constitution made their intent clear when they wrote the First Amendment. I believe they wanted to keep the new government from endorsing one religion over another, not erase the public consciousness or common faith.

  Nick Rahall

  Believe, Government, Firsts

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• I believe in the American tradition of separation of church and state which is expressed in the First Amendment to the Constitution. By my office - and by personal conviction - I am sworn to uphold that tradition.

  Lyndon B. Johnson

  Believe, Office, Religion

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• The First Amendment exists to protect our religious liberty--to ensure that all Americans are able to seek out worship God with all our hearts, free from government coercion; it does not mandate scouring the public square to forcibly remove all acknowledgement s of the Almighty

  Ted Cruz

  Religious, Heart, Squares

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• Freedom to differ is not limited to things that do not matter much. That would be a mere shadow of freedom. The test of its substance is the right to differ as to things that touch the heart of the existing order.

  Robert H. Jackson

  Freedom, Heart, Order

  West Virginia State Bd. of Educ. v. Barnette (1943)

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• I don't want to be shut out from the truth. If they ban books, they might as well lock us away from the world.

  Rory Edwards

  Book, Locks, World

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• Is any blogger out there saying anything—do they deserve First Amendment protection? These are the issues of our times.

  Lindsey Graham

  Issues, Firsts, Protection

  "HUFFPOST HILL - 7,000,000 Congress Fans Can’t Be Wrong", www.huffingtonpost.com. June 5, 2013.

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• Under the First Amendment there is no such thing as a false idea. However pernicious an opinion may seem, we depend for its correction not on the conscience of judges and juries but on the competition of other ideas.

  Lewis F. Powell, Jr.

  Ideas, Judging, Competition

  Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. (1974)

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• Now I realize it's fashionable in some circles to believe that no one in government should encourage others to read the Bible. That we're told we'll violate the constitutional separation of church and state established by the Founding Fathers and the First Amendment. The First Amendment was not written to protect people and their laws from religious values. It was written to protect those values from government tyranny.

  Ronald Reagan

  Religious, Father, Believe

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• At the time of the adoption of the constitution, and of the amendment to it, now under consideration [i.e., the First Amendment], the general, if not the universal sentiment in America was, that Christianity ought to receive encouragement from the state, so far as was not incompatible with the private rights of conscience, and the freedom of religious worship.

  Joseph Story

  Religious, Encouragement, America

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• The real object of the First Amendment was not to countenance, much less advance Mohammedanism, or Judaism or infidelity, by prostrating Christianity; but ... to prevent any national ecclesiastical establishment which should give to a hierarchy the exclusive patronage of the national government.

  Joseph Story

  Real, Government, Giving

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• If America has a civic religion, the First Amendment is its central article of faith.

  Henry Louis Gates

  America, Democracy, Firsts

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• After reading hundreds of e-mails, I have made MY decision. By pulling my opening Oct 3rd, You (ESPN) stepped on the Toes of The First Amendment Freedom of Speech, so therefore Me, My Song, and All My Rowdy Friends are OUT OF HERE. It's been a great run.

  Hank Williams, Jr.

  Running, Song, Reading

  "ESPN severs ties with Hank Williams Jr". www.cnn.com. October 6, 2011.

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• If the Government is going to intrude upon the sacred ground of the First Amendment and tell its citizens that their exercise of protected speech could land them in jail, the law imposing such a penalty must clearly define the prohibited speech not only for the potential offender but also for the potential enforcer.

  Ronald L. Buckwalter

  Exercise, Government, Law

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• Our First Amendment expresses a far different calculus for regulating speech than for regulating nonexpressive conduct and that is as it should be. The right to swing your fist should end at the tip of my nose, but your right to express your ideas should not necessarily end at the lobes of my ears.

  Alan Dershowitz

  Swings, Ideas, Liberty

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• Every time I criticize what I consider to be excesses or faults in the news business, I am accused of repression; and the leaders of the various media professional groups wave the First Amendment as they denounce me. That happens to be my amendment too. It guarantees my free speech as much as it does their freedom of the press.

  Spiro T. Agnew

  Views, Media, Leader

  "The Impudent Snobs: Agnew Vs. the Intellectual Establishment".

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• Government...may not be hostile to any religion or to the advocacy of no-religion; and it may not aid, foster, or promote one religion or religious theory against another... The First Amendment mandates governmental neutrality.

  Abe Fortas

  Religious, Government, Neutrality

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• The prima facie evidence provision in this case ignores all of the contextual factors that are necessary to decide whether a particular cross burning is intended to intimidate. The First Amendment does not permit such a shortcut.

  Sandra Day O'Connor

  Government, Doe, Burning

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• Asked random questions about the First Amendment and how they would like to have it applied, if you believe in polls at all, the average American wants no part of it. But if you ask, 'What if we threw the Constitution away tomorrow?' the answer is 'No, that would be bad!' But living under the Constitution is another story altogether.

  Frank Zappa

  Believe, Average, What If

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• We don't have an Official Secrets Act in the United States, as other countries do. Under the First Amendment, freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and freedom of association are more important than protecting secrets.

  Alan Dershowitz

  Country, Freedom Of Speech, Secret

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• The First Amendment guarantees liberty of human expression in order to preserve in our Nation what Mr. Justice Holmes called a "free trade in ideas." To that end, the Constitution protects more than just a man's freedom to say or write or publish what he wants. It secures as well the liberty of each man to decide for himself what he will read and to what he will listen. The Constitution guarantees, in short, a society of free choice.

  Potter Stewart

  Writing, Men, Expression

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• Outlawing religion form the political arena is not what the Founding Fathers intended when they drafted the First Amendment. We do a grave disservice to our country by removing the influence of religion. If you separate God from the public arena, inevitably you separate good from our government.

  Bill Bright

  Country, Father, Government

  Bill Bright, John N. Damoose (1998). “Red Sky in the Morning”

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• Under the privilege of the First Amendment many, many ridiculous things are said.

  John Kenneth Galbraith

  Firsts, Civil Rights, Privilege

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• First Amendment speech and press rights may also be subordinated to the overriding need to wage war successfully.

  John Yoo

  War, Rights, Needs

  "Obama releases internal Bush Justice Department memos" by Terry Frieden, www.cnn.com. March 2, 2009.

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• If newsmen do not tell the truth as they see it because it might make waves, or if their bosses decide something should or should not be broadcast because of Washington or Main Street consequences, we have dishonored ourselves and we have lost the First Amendment by default.

  Richard S. Salant

  America, Boss, Might

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• If the Constitution was a movie, the Preamble would be the trailer, the First Amendment the establishing shot, the 13th the crowd pleaser and the 14th the ultimate hero scene.

  Henry Rollins

  Hero, Would Be, Crowds

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