Первая поправка ( Поправка I ) к Конституции Соединенных Штатов запрещает правительству принимать законы, уважающие установление религии ; запрещающие свободное исповедание религии ; или ограничивающие свободу слова , свободу печати , свободу собраний или право подавать петиции правительству об устранении жалоб. Она была принята 15 декабря 1791 года как одна из десяти поправок, составляющих Билль о правах . В первоначальном проекте Билля о правах то, что сейчас является Первой поправкой, занимало третье место. Первые две статьи не были приняты, поэтому статья об отмене установления и свободе слова оказалась первой.
Билль о правах был предложен для смягчения антифедералистской оппозиции ратификации Конституции . Первоначально Первая поправка применялась только к законам, принятым Конгрессом , и многие из ее положений толковались более узко, чем сегодня. Начиная с дела Gitlow против Нью-Йорка (1925), Верховный суд применил Первую поправку к штатам — процесс, известный как инкорпорация — через пункт о надлежащей правовой процедуре Четырнадцатой поправки .
В деле Эверсон против Совета по образованию (1947) Суд опирался на переписку Томаса Джефферсона , чтобы призвать к «стене разделения между церковью и государством», литературной, но проясняющей метафоре для отделения религий от правительства и наоборот, а также свободного исповедания религиозных убеждений, которое поддерживали многие Основатели. В течение десятилетий спорных судебных разбирательств точные границы предписанного разделения были установлены способами, которые периодически вызывали противоречия. Право на свободу слова было значительно расширено в серии судебных решений 20-го и 21-го веков, которые защищали различные формы политической речи, анонимную речь, финансирование избирательных кампаний , порнографию и школьную речь ; эти постановления также определили ряд исключений из защиты Первой поправки . Верховный суд отменил прецедент английского общего права , чтобы увеличить бремя доказывания для исков о диффамации и клевете , в частности в деле New York Times Co. против Салливана (1964). Однако коммерческие высказывания защищены Первой поправкой меньше, чем политические высказывания, и поэтому подлежат более строгому регулированию.
Пункт о свободной прессе защищает публикацию информации и мнений и применяется к широкому спектру средств массовой информации. В делах Near v. Minnesota (1931) и New York Times v. United States (1971) Верховный суд постановил, что Первая поправка защищает от предварительного ограничения — цензуры до публикации — почти во всех случаях. Пункт о петициях защищает право подавать петиции во все ветви и агентства правительства с просьбой о принятии мер. В дополнение к праву на собрания, гарантированному этим пунктом, суд также постановил, что поправка неявно защищает свободу объединений .
Хотя Первая поправка применяется только к государственным деятелям , [a] [1] существует распространенное заблуждение, что она запрещает кому-либо ограничивать свободу слова, включая частные неправительственные организации. [2] Более того, Верховный суд постановил, что защита слова не является абсолютной. [3]
Конгресс не должен издавать ни одного закона, относящегося к установлению религии или запрещающего свободное ее исповедание, или ограничивающего свободу слова или печати, или право народа мирно собираться и обращаться к правительству с петициями об удовлетворении жалоб. [4]
Право на подачу петиции об удовлетворении жалоб было принципом, включенным в Великую хартию вольностей 1215 года , а также в английский Билль о правах 1689 года . В 1776 году, на втором году американской войны за независимость , законодательный орган колонии Вирджиния принял Декларацию прав , включавшую предложение «Свобода прессы является одним из величайших оплотов свободы и может быть ограничена только деспотичными правительствами». Восемь из других двенадцати штатов дали аналогичные обещания. Однако эти декларации обычно считались «простыми увещеваниями для законодательных органов штатов», а не обязательными к исполнению положениями. [5]
После нескольких лет сравнительно слабого правительства в соответствии со Статьями Конфедерации , Конституционный конвент в Филадельфии 17 сентября 1787 года предложил новую конституцию, включающую, помимо прочих изменений, более сильного главу исполнительной власти. Джордж Мейсон , делегат Конституционного конвента и составитель Декларации прав Вирджинии, предложил включить в Конституцию билль о правах, перечисляющий и гарантирующий гражданские свободы . Другие делегаты, включая будущего составителя Билля о правах Джеймса Мэдисона , не согласились, утверждая, что существующие государственные гарантии гражданских свобод достаточны, и любая попытка перечислить индивидуальные права рисковала подразумевать, что другие, неназванные права не защищены. После непродолжительных дебатов предложение Мейсона было отклонено единогласным голосованием делегаций штатов. [6]
Однако для ратификации конституции девять из тринадцати штатов должны были одобрить ее на своих съездах. Противодействие ратификации («антифедерализм») частично основывалось на отсутствии в Конституции достаточных гарантий гражданских свобод. Сторонники Конституции в штатах, где общественное мнение было против ратификации (включая Вирджинию, Массачусетс и Нью-Йорк), успешно предложили, чтобы съезды их штатов ратифицировали Конституцию и призвали к добавлению билля о правах. В конечном итоге Конституция США была ратифицирована всеми тринадцатью штатами. В 1-м Конгрессе Соединенных Штатов , следуя запросу законодательных органов штатов, Джеймс Мэдисон предложил двадцать поправок к конституции, и его предложенный проект Первой поправки гласил следующее:
Гражданские права никого не должны быть ограничены по причине религиозных убеждений или поклонения, и никакая национальная религия не должна быть установлена, и полные и равные права совести не должны быть каким-либо образом или под каким-либо предлогом ущемлены. Люди не должны быть лишены или ограничены в своем праве говорить, писать или публиковать свои чувства; и свобода печати, как один из великих оплотов свободы, должна быть неприкосновенной. Люди не должны быть ограничены в мирных собраниях и консультациях для их общего блага; или в обращении в Законодательное собрание с петициями или протестами для удовлетворения своих жалоб. [7]
Этот текст был значительно сокращен Конгрессом и принят Палатой представителей и Сенатом практически без каких-либо зафиксированных дебатов, что усложнило будущее обсуждение цели поправки. [8] [9] Конгресс одобрил и представил штатам для ратификации двенадцать статей поправки 25 сентября 1789 года. Пересмотренный текст третьей статьи стал Первой поправкой, поскольку последние десять статей из представленных 12 статей были ратифицированы необходимым числом штатов 15 декабря 1791 года и теперь известны под общим названием Билль о правах . [10] [11]
Религиозная свобода, также известная как свобода вероисповедания, является «правом всех людей верить, говорить и действовать — индивидуально и совместно с другими, в частном порядке и публично — в соответствии с их пониманием высшей истины». [13] Признание религиозной свободы как первого права, защищаемого в Билле о правах, указывает на понимание основателями Америки важности религии для человеческого, социального и политического процветания. [13] Свобода вероисповедания [13] защищена Первой поправкой посредством ее пункта об установлении и пункта о свободном исповедании веры , которые вместе образуют пункты о религиозной свободе Первой поправки. [14] Первый пункт запрещает любое государственное «установление религии», а второй запрещает любое государственное вмешательство в «ее свободное исповедание». [15] Эти пункты Первой поправки охватывают «две большие области религии в конституционном праве . Дела об установлении касаются запрета Конституции на то, чтобы Конгресс одобрял, пропагандировал или слишком увлекался религией. Дела о свободном исповедании веры касаются прав американцев исповедовать свою веру». [16] Оба положения иногда конкурируют друг с другом. Верховный суд в деле округа Маккрири против Американского союза гражданских свобод (2005) разъяснил это следующим примером: когда правительство тратит деньги на духовенство, то это выглядит как установление религии, но если правительство не может платить военным капелланам , то многие солдаты и моряки будут лишены возможности исповедовать избранную ими религию. [15] Верховный суд разработал доктрину предпочтительной позиции. [17] В деле Мердок против Пенсильвании (1943) Верховный суд заявил, что «свобода прессы, свобода слова, свобода вероисповедания находятся в предпочтительном положении». [18] Суд добавил:
Ясно, что сообщество не может подавлять, а государство не может облагать налогом распространение взглядов, потому что они непопулярны, раздражают или неприятны. Если бы этот прием был когда-либо санкционирован, был бы выкован готовый инструмент для подавления веры, которую любое меньшинство лелеет, но которая не находится в фаворе. Это было бы полным отказом от философии Билля о правах . [18]
В своем особом мнении по делу Макгоуэн против Мэриленда (1961 г.) судья Уильям О. Дуглас проиллюстрировал широкую защиту, предоставляемую положениями Первой поправки о религиозной свободе:
Первая поправка предписывает правительству не интересоваться теологией или ритуалом; она призывает правительство быть заинтересованным в том, чтобы позволить религиозной свободе процветать — независимо от того, приведет ли это к появлению католиков , иудеев или протестантов , или к обращению людей на путь Будды , или к созданию преимущественно мусульманской нации, или к появлению в конечном итоге атеистов или агностиков. В вопросах такого рода правительство должно быть нейтральным . Эта свобода явно включает свободу от религии с правом верить, говорить, писать, публиковать и пропагандировать антирелигиозные программы. Совет по образованию против Барнетта , supra , 319 US 641. Конечно, положение о «свободном вероисповедании» не требует, чтобы каждый принимал теологию какой-либо церкви или веры или соблюдал религиозные обряды какой-либо секты большинства или меньшинства. Первая поправка своим положением об «установлении» конечно же препятствует выбору правительством «официальной» церкви. Однако запрет явно простирается дальше этого. Мы заявили в деле Эверсон против Совета по образованию , 330 US 1, 330 US 16, что это было бы «учреждением» религии, если бы правительство финансировало одну или несколько церквей. Ведь какой лучший способ «учредить» учреждение, чем найти фонд, который будет его поддерживать? Пункт об «учреждении» также защищает граждан от любого закона, который выбирает какой-либо религиозный обычай, практику или ритуал, ставит за него силу правительства и штрафует, сажает в тюрьму или иным образом наказывает человека за его несоблюдение. Правительство явно не могло объединить силы с одной религиозной группой и объявить всеобщее и символическое обрезание . Оно также не могло требовать, чтобы все дети были крещены, или предоставлять налоговые льготы только тем, чьи дети были крещены. [19]
Поэтому те, кто хотел бы пересмотреть границы между церковью и государством, должны ответить на сложный вопрос: зачем нам менять систему, которая так хорошо служила нам, на систему, которая так плохо служила другим?
-- Судья Сандра Дэй О'Коннор в своем совпадающем мнении по делу округа МакКрири против Американского союза защиты гражданских свобод (2005 г.). [20]
Первая поправка не терпит ни установленной правительством религии, ни вмешательства правительства в религию. [21] Одна из центральных целей Первой поправки, как написал Верховный суд в деле Джиллетт против Соединенных Штатов (1970), состоит в «обеспечении правительственного нейтралитета в вопросах религии». [22] История пункта об установлении и пункта о свободном вероисповедании, а также собственная конституционная юриспруденция Верховного суда в отношении этих пунктов были объяснены в деле Уоллес против Джаффри 1985 года . [23] Верховный суд с самого начала отметил, что Первая поправка в равной степени ограничивает полномочия Конгресса и штатов ограничивать защищаемые ею индивидуальные свободы. Первая поправка была принята для ограничения полномочий Конгресса вмешиваться в свободу человека верить, поклоняться и выражать себя в соответствии с велениями его собственной совести. Пункт о надлежащей правовой процедуре Четырнадцатой поправки налагает на штаты те же ограничения, которые Первая поправка всегда налагала на Конгресс. [24] Это «элементарное положение закона» было подтверждено и одобрено снова и снова в таких делах , как Cantwell против Connecticut , 310 US 296, 303 (1940) [b] и Wooley против Maynard (1977). [c] [27] Центральной свободой, которая объединяет различные положения Первой поправки, является свобода совести человека : [28]
Так же, как право говорить и право воздерживаться от высказываний являются взаимодополняющими компонентами более широкой концепции индивидуальной свободы ума, так и свобода человека выбирать свою собственную веру является аналогом его права воздерживаться от принятия веры, установленной большинством. Одно время считалось, что это право просто запрещает предпочтение одной христианской секты другой, но не требует равного уважения к совести неверующего , атеиста или приверженца нехристианской веры, такой как ислам или иудаизм. Но когда основополагающий принцип был рассмотрен в горниле судебного разбирательства, Суд однозначно пришел к выводу, что индивидуальная свобода совести, защищенная Первой поправкой, охватывает право выбирать любую религиозную веру или не выбирать никакой вообще. Этот вывод подкрепляется не только интересом к уважению свободы совести человека, но и убеждением в том, что религиозные убеждения, достойные уважения, являются продуктом свободного и добровольного выбора верующих, а также признанием того факта, что политический интерес в предотвращении нетерпимости выходит за рамки нетерпимости среди христианских сект – или даже нетерпимости среди «религий», – охватывая нетерпимость к неверующим и неуверенным . [29]
Точное значение пункта об установлении можно проследить до начала 19 века. Томас Джефферсон писал о Первой поправке и ее ограничении для Конгресса в ответе 1802 года баптистам Дэнбери [30] , религиозному меньшинству, обеспокоенному доминирующим положением конгрегационалистской церкви в Коннектикуте , которые написали недавно избранному президенту о своих опасениях. Джефферсон ответил:
Веря вместе с вами, что религия — это дело, которое лежит исключительно между Человеком и его Богом, что он не должен отчитываться ни перед кем другим за свою веру или поклонение, что законные полномочия правительства распространяются только на действия, а не на мнения, я с суверенным почтением размышляю над тем актом всего американского народа, который заявил, что его законодательный орган не должен «издавать никаких законов относительно установления религии или запрещать свободное ее исповедание», тем самым возводя стену разделения между Церковью и государством . Придерживаясь этого выражения высшей воли нации в пользу прав совести, я с искренним удовлетворением буду наблюдать за прогрессом тех чувств, которые стремятся восстановить для человека все его естественные права, убежденный, что у него нет естественных прав, противоречащих его социальным обязанностям. [31]
В деле Рейнольдс против Соединенных Штатов (1878) Верховный суд использовал эти слова, чтобы заявить, что «это может быть принято почти как авторитетное заявление о сфере действия и эффекте поправки, таким образом обеспеченной. Конгресс был лишен всей законодательной власти над простыми [религиозными] мнениями, но был оставлен свободным для принятия [только тех религиозных] действий, которые нарушали общественные обязанности или подрывали порядок». Цитируя Статут Вирджинии о религиозной свободе Джефферсона, суд далее заявил в деле Рейнольдса :
В преамбуле к этому акту ... дается определение религиозной свободы; и после изложения того, «что позволять гражданскому судье вторгаться своими полномочиями в сферу мнений и ограничивать исповедание или распространение принципов на основании предположения об их дурной направленности, является опасным заблуждением, которое сразу же уничтожает всю религиозную свободу», заявляется, «что для законных целей гражданского правительства настало время, чтобы его должностные лица вмешивались [только] тогда, когда [религиозные] принципы выливаются в открытые действия, направленные против мира и доброго порядка». В этих двух предложениях обнаруживается истинное различие между тем, что по праву принадлежит церкви, и тем, что принадлежит государству.
Рейнольдс был первым решением Верховного суда, в котором использовалась метафора «стена разделения между церковью и государством». Главный судья Моррисон Уэйт консультировал американского историка Джорджа Бэнкрофта в Рейнольдсе относительно взглядов на учреждение отцов-основателей . Бэнкрофт посоветовал Уэйту проконсультироваться с Джефферсоном, и Уэйт затем обнаружил процитированное выше письмо в библиотеке, просматривая указатель к собранию сочинений Джефферсона, согласно историку Дону Дрейкмену. [32]
Пункт об установлении [33] запрещает федеральные, государственные и местные законы, целью которых является «установление религии». Термин «установление» в целом обозначает прямую помощь церкви со стороны правительства. [34] В деле Larkin v. Grendel's Den, Inc. (1982) Верховный суд заявил, что «основной смысл, лежащий в основе пункта об установлении, заключается в предотвращении «слияния правительственных и религиозных функций», Abington School District v. Schempp , 374 US 203, 374 US 222 (1963)». [35] Пункт об установлении действует как двойная гарантия, поскольку его целью является как предотвращение религиозного контроля над правительством, так и предотвращение политического контроля над религией. [14] Создатели Первой поправки знали, что переплетение правительства с религией может привести к кровопролитию или угнетению, поскольку это слишком часто случалось в истории. Чтобы предотвратить это опасное развитие, они ввели Положение об установлении в качестве линии разграничения между функциями и деятельностью институтов религии и правительства в обществе. [36] Федеральному правительству Соединенных Штатов , а также правительствам штатов запрещено устанавливать или спонсировать религию, [14] поскольку, как отметил Верховный суд в деле Уолц против Налоговой комиссии города Нью-Йорк (1970), «установление» религии исторически подразумевало спонсорство, финансовую поддержку и активное участие суверена в религиозной деятельности . [37] Таким образом, Положение об установлении служит для обеспечения законов, как сказал Верховный суд в деле Джиллетт против Соединенных Штатов (1970), которые являются «светскими по цели, беспристрастными в действии и нейтральными по первичному воздействию». [22]
Запрет Первой поправки на установление религии включает в себя многие вещи, от молитвы в самых разных правительственных условиях до финансовой помощи религиозным лицам и учреждениям для комментариев по религиозным вопросам. [15] Верховный суд заявил в этом контексте: «В этих разнообразных условиях вопросы толкования неточного языка пункта об установлении, как и сложные вопросы толкования в целом, возникают из-за напряжения конкурирующих ценностей, каждая из которых конституционно уважаема, но ни одна из которых не открыта для реализации до логического предела». [15] Национальный конституционный центр отмечает, что при отсутствии некоторых общих толкований юристами точное значение пункта об установлении неясно, и что решения Верховного суда Соединённых Штатов, касающиеся пункта об установлении, часто принимаются 5–4 голосами. [38] Однако пункт об установлении отражает широко распространенный консенсус о том, что после Американской войны за независимость не должно быть общенациональной установленной церкви . [38] На этом фоне Национальный конституционный центр заявляет:
Практически все юристы сходятся во мнении, что нарушением пункта об учреждении будет принуждение правительства к посещению или финансовой поддержке религиозного учреждения как такового, вмешательство правительства в выбор духовенства или религиозной доктрины религиозной организацией; осуществление религиозными организациями или деятелями, действующими в религиозном качестве, государственной власти; или предоставление правительством льгот одним религиозным образованиям и отказ от льгот другим без надлежащего светского обоснования. [38]
Первоначально Первая поправка применялась только к федеральному правительству, и некоторые штаты продолжали поддерживать официальные государственные религии после ратификации. Массачусетс , например, был официально конгрегационалистским до 1830-х годов. [39] В деле Эверсон против Совета по образованию (1947) Верховный суд включил положение об установлении (т. е. применил его против штатов):
Пункт «установление религии» Первой поправки означает по крайней мере следующее: ни штат, ни федеральное правительство не могут учреждать церковь. Ни одно из них не может принимать законы, которые поддерживают одну религию, поддерживают все религии или отдают предпочтение одной религии перед другой ... по словам Джефферсона, пункт [Первой поправки] против установления религии законом был призван воздвигнуть «стену разделения между церковью и государством». ... Эта стена должна быть высокой и неприступной. Мы не могли одобрить ни малейшего нарушения. [40]
Ссылаясь на судью Хьюго Блэка в деле Торкасо против Уоткинса (1961 г.), Верховный суд повторил свое заявление из дела Эверсон против Совета по образованию (1947 г.) в деле Школьный округ Абингтон против Шемппа (1963 г.):
Мы повторяем и снова подтверждаем, что ни государство, ни федеральное правительство не могут конституционно заставить человека «исповедовать веру или неверие в какую-либо религию». Также не могут конституционно принимать законы или налагать требования, которые помогают всем религиям в противовес неверующим, и также не могут помогать тем религиям, которые основаны на вере в существование Бога, в противовес тем религиям, которые основаны на других верованиях. [42]
В основе пункта об установлении лежит основной принцип конфессионального нейтралитета. [43] В деле Эпперсон против Арканзаса (1968) Верховный суд изложил широкий принцип конфессионального нейтралитета, предписанный Первой поправкой: «Правительство в нашей демократии, на уровне штата и страны, должно быть нейтральным в вопросах религиозной теории, доктрины и практики. Оно не может быть враждебным по отношению к какой-либо религии или к пропаганде отсутствия религии, и оно не может помогать, поощрять или продвигать одну религию или религиозную теорию против другой или даже против воинствующей противоположности. Первая поправка предписывает правительственный нейтралитет между религией и религией, а также между религией и нерелигией». [44] Согласно Верховному суду в деле Ларсон против Валенте , 456 U.S. 228 (1982), наиболее четким предписанием пункта об установлении является то, что одна религиозная конфессия не может быть официально предпочтительнее другой. [45] В деле Зорах против Клаусона (1952) Верховный суд далее отметил: «Правительство не может финансировать религиозные группы, проводить религиозное обучение, смешивать светское и сектантское образование, использовать светские учреждения для навязывания одной или нескольких религий любому человеку. Но мы не находим никаких конституционных требований, которые обязывают правительство быть враждебным к религии и противодействовать усилиям по расширению эффективной сферы религиозного влияния. Правительство должно быть нейтральным, когда дело касается конкуренции между сектами. Оно не может навязывать какую-либо секту какому-либо человеку. Оно не может делать соблюдение религиозных обрядов обязательным. Оно не может принуждать кого-либо посещать церковь, соблюдать религиозный праздник или получать религиозное обучение. Но оно может закрыть свои двери или приостановить свою деятельность в отношении тех, кто хочет посетить свое религиозное святилище для поклонения или обучения». [46] В деле округа МакКрири против Американского союза гражданских свобод (2005 г.) суд пояснил, что когда правительство действует с мнимой и преобладающей целью продвижения религии, то оно нарушает центральную ценность Положения об установлении официального религиозного нейтралитета, поскольку нейтралитет отсутствует, когда мнимая цель правительства состоит в том, чтобы занять чью-либо сторону. [47]
В деле Torcaso v. Watkins (1961) Верховный суд постановил, что Конституция запрещает штатам и федеральному правительству требовать какой-либо религиозный тест для государственных должностей . Верховный суд в том же деле также ясно дал понять, что правительствам штатов и федеральному правительству запрещено принимать законы или вводить требования, которые помогают всем религиям в ущерб неверующим, а также помогать религиям, основанным на вере в существование Бога, в ущерб религиям, основанным на других верованиях. В деле Board of Education of Kiryas Joel Village School District v. Grumet (1994) [48] суд пришел к выводу, что «правительство не должно отдавать предпочтение одной религии перед другой или религии перед неверием». [49] В ряде дел в первом десятилетии 2000-х годов — Ван Орден против Перри (2005), [50] Округ МакКрири против Американского союза защиты гражданских свобод (2005), [51] и Салазар против Буоно (2010) [52] — Суд рассматривал вопрос о религиозных памятниках на федеральных землях, не достигнув большинства в обосновании этого вопроса.
Эверсон использовал метафору стены разделения между церковью и государством , взятую из переписки президента Томаса Джефферсона . Она давно была установлена в решениях Верховного суда, начиная с дела Рейнольдс против Соединенных Штатов (1878), когда суд рассматривал историю ранней Республики при определении степени свобод мормонов. Главный судья Моррисон Уэйт, который консультировался с историком Джорджем Бэнкрофтом , также довольно подробно обсуждал Мемориал и протест против религиозных оценок Джеймса Мэдисона, [54] который разработал Первую поправку; Мэдисон использовал метафору «великого барьера». [55]
В деле Эверсона суд принял слова Джефферсона. [53] Суд часто подтверждал это большинством голосов, но не единогласно. Уоррен Норд в работе « Имеет ли Бог значение? » охарактеризовал общую тенденцию несогласных как более слабое прочтение Первой поправки; несогласные, как правило, «меньше обеспокоены опасностями установления и меньше озабочены защитой прав свободного осуществления, особенно религиозных меньшинств». [56]
Начиная с дела Эверсона , которое позволило школьным советам Нью-Джерси оплачивать транспортировку в приходские школы, Суд использовал различные тесты, чтобы определить, когда стена разделения была прорвана. Эверсон установил тест, что учреждение существовало, когда помощь предоставлялась религии, но что транспортировка была оправдана, поскольку польза для детей была важнее.
Феликс Франкфуртер в своем совпадающем мнении в деле МакКоллум против Совета по образованию (1948) призвал к строгому разделению государства и церкви: «Разделение означает разделение, а не что-то меньшее. Метафора Джефферсона при описании отношений между церковью и государством говорит о «стене разделения», а не о тонкой грани, которую легко переступить. ... «Великий американский принцип вечного разделения» — фраза Элиу Рута заслуживает повторения — является одной из жизненно важных опор нашей конституционной системы для обеспечения единства среди наших людей, которое сильнее наших различий. Обязанность суда — обеспечить соблюдение этого принципа в его полной целостности». [57]
В делах о школьных молитвах начала 1960-х годов Engel v. Vitale и Abington School District v. Schempp помощь, казалось, не имела значения. Суд постановил на том основании, что законное действие служило светской цели и не было в первую очередь помощью религии.
В деле Уолц против Налоговой комиссии города Нью-Йорк (1970) Суд постановил, что законное действие не может связывать правительство с религией. В деле Лемон против Курцмана (1971) эти пункты были объединены в тест Лемона , заявив, что действие является учреждением, если: [58]
Тест Lemon подвергся критике со стороны судей и ученых-юристов, но он остался преобладающим средством, с помощью которого суд применял положение об установлении. [59] В деле Agostini v. Felton (1997) зубец запутанности теста Lemon был преобразован в просто фактор определения эффекта оспариваемого закона или практики. [36] В деле Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002) мнение суда рассматривало светскую цель и отсутствие первичного эффекта; совпадающее мнение считало, что в обоих случаях запутанность рассматривалась как часть теста первичной цели. [59] Дополнительные тесты, такие как тест одобрения и тест принуждения , были разработаны для определения того, нарушило ли действие правительства положение об установлении. [60] [61]
В деле Lemon суд заявил, что разделение церкви и государства никогда не может быть абсолютным: «Наши предыдущие решения не призывают к полному разделению церкви и государства; полное разделение невозможно в абсолютном смысле. Определенные отношения между правительством и религиозными организациями неизбежны», — написал суд. «Судебные предостережения против запутывания должны признавать, что линия разделения, далекая от «стены», является размытым, нечетким и изменчивым барьером, зависящим от всех обстоятельств конкретных отношений». [62]
После решения Верховного суда по делу Кеннеди против школьного округа Бремертон о молитвах тренера (2022 г.) «Лимонный тест» мог быть заменен или дополнен ссылкой на исторические практики и понимания. [63] [64] [65]
Сторонники приспособленчества [66], напротив , утверждают вместе с судьей Уильямом О. Дугласом , что «[мы] являемся религиозным народом, чьи институты предполагают Верховное Существо». [67] [d] Более того, как заметил главный судья Уоррен Э. Бергер в деле Уолц против Налоговой комиссии города Нью-Йорк (1970) относительно разделения церкви и государства: «Никакое совершенное или абсолютное разделение на самом деле невозможно; само существование статей о религии является своего рода вмешательством — тем, что стремится обозначить границы, чтобы избежать чрезмерной запутанности». [37] Он также ввел термин «благожелательный нейтралитет» как комбинацию нейтралитета и приспособленчества в деле Уолц , чтобы охарактеризовать способ обеспечения отсутствия конфликта между статьей об установлении и статьей о свободном вероисповедании. [68] [e] Преемник Бергера, Уильям Ренквист , призвал отказаться от метафоры «стены разделения между церковью и государством» в деле Уоллес против Джаффри (1985), поскольку он считал, что эта метафора основана на плохой истории и оказалась бесполезной в качестве руководства для вынесения суждения. [70]
Дэвид Шульц сказал, что сторонники компромисса утверждают, что тест Лемона должен применяться избирательно. [67] Таким образом, для многих консерваторов , положение об установлении препятствует только созданию государственной церкви , а не публичному признанию Бога или «разработке политики, поощряющей общие религиозные убеждения, которые не благоприятствуют конкретной секте и соответствуют целям светского правительства». [71] [72] В деле Линч против Доннелли (1984) Верховный суд отметил, что «концепция «стены» разделения между церковью и государством является полезной метафорой, но не является точным описанием практических аспектов отношений, которые фактически существуют. Конституция не требует полного разделения церкви и государства; она утвердительно предписывает компромисс, а не просто терпимость ко всем религиям, и запрещает враждебность по отношению к любой из них». [73]
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Признание религиозной свободы как первого права, защищаемого в Билле о правах, указывает на понимание основателями Америки важности религии для человеческого, социального и политического процветания. Первая поправка ясно дает понять, что она стремилась защитить «свободное исповедание» религии или то, что можно было бы назвать «равенством свободного исповедания». [13] Свобода исповедания религии — это свобода людей свободно достигать, придерживаться, исповедовать и менять убеждения в соответствии с велениями совести. Статья о свободе исповедания религии запрещает вмешательство правительства в религиозные убеждения и, в определенных пределах, в религиозную практику. [14] «Свобода религии означает свободу придерживаться мнения или убеждений, но не совершать действий, нарушающих общественные обязанности или подрывающих порядок». [74] Статья исключает из законодательной власти, как государственной , так и федеральной , применение каких-либо ограничений на свободное исповедание религии. Ее цель — обеспечить религиозную свободу личности путем запрета любых вторжений в нее со стороны гражданской власти. [75] «Дверь Положения о свободе вероисповедания плотно закрыта для любого государственного регулирования религиозных убеждений как таковых, Cantwell v. Connecticut , 310 US 296, 310 US 303. Правительство не может ни принуждать к подтверждению отвратительного убеждения, Torcaso v. Watkins , 367 US 488; ни наказывать или дискриминировать отдельных лиц или группы из-за того, что они придерживаются религиозных взглядов, отвратительных властям, Fowler v. Rhode Island , 345 US 67; ни использовать налоговые полномочия для препятствования распространению определенных религиозных взглядов, Murdock v. Pennsylvania , 319 US 105; Follett v. McCormick , 321 US 573; ср. Grosjean v. American Press Co. , 297 US 233» . [76]
Статья о свободе вероисповедания предлагает двойную защиту, поскольку она является щитом не только от прямых запретов в отношении свободного вероисповедания, но и от штрафов за свободное вероисповедание и от косвенного принуждения со стороны правительства. [77] Ссылаясь на дело Employment Division v. Smith (1990) [78] и цитируя дело Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. Hialeah (1993) [79], Верховный суд заявил в деле Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer (2017), что религиозные наблюдатели защищены от неравного обращения в силу статьи о свободе вероисповедания, и законы, которые преследуют религиозных людей за «особые нарушения» на основе их «религиозного статуса», должны быть охвачены применением строгого контроля . [80]
В деле Рейнольдс против Соединенных Штатов (1878) Верховный суд постановил, что хотя законы не могут вмешиваться в религиозные убеждения и мнения, законы могут регулировать религиозные практики, такие как человеческие жертвоприношения или устаревшая индуистская практика сати . Суд заявил, что постановить иначе «значило бы сделать исповедуемые доктрины религиозных убеждений выше законов страны и, по сути, позволить каждому гражданину стать законом самому себе. Правительство существовало бы только номинально при таких обстоятельствах». [81] Если цель или действие закона заключается в том, чтобы воспрепятствовать соблюдению одной или всех религий или в том, чтобы проводить оскорбительную дискриминацию между религиями, этот закон является конституционно недействительным, даже если бремя может быть охарактеризовано как только косвенное. Но если государство регулирует поведение, принимая общий закон в пределах своих полномочий, цель и действие которого заключается в продвижении светских целей государства, закон действителен, несмотря на его косвенное бремя на соблюдение религиозных обрядов, если только государство не может достичь своей цели средствами, которые не налагают такого бремени. [82]
In Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940), the Court held that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment applied the Free Exercise Clause to the states. While the right to have religious beliefs is absolute, the freedom to act on such beliefs is not absolute.[83] Religious freedom is a universal right of all human beings and all religions, providing for the free exercise of religion or free exercise equality. Due to its nature as fundamental to the American founding and to the ordering of human society, it is rightly seen as a capricious right, i.e. universal, broad, and deep—though not absolute.[13] Justice Field put it clearly in Davis v. Beason (1890): "However free the exercise of religion may be, it must be subordinate to the criminal laws of the country, passed with reference to actions regarded by general consent as properly the subjects of punitive legislation."[84] Furthermore, the Supreme Court in Employment Division v. Smith made clear that "the right of free exercise does not relieve an individual of the obligation to comply with a "valid and neutral law of general applicability on the ground that the law proscribes (or prescribes) conduct that his religion prescribes (or proscribes)." United States v. Lee, 455 U. S. 252, 455 U. S. 263, n. 3 (1982) (STEVENS, J., concurring in judgment); see Minersville School Dist. Bd. of Educ. v. Gobitis, supra, 310 U.S. at 310 U. S. 595 (collecting cases)."[f][86][16] Smith also set the precedent[87] "that laws affecting certain religious practices do not violate the right to free exercise of religion as long as the laws are neutral, generally applicable, and not motivated by animus to religion."[88]
To accept any creed or the practice of any form of worship cannot be compelled by laws, because, as stated by the Supreme Court in Braunfeld v. Brown (1961), the freedom to hold religious beliefs and opinions is absolute.[89] Federal or state legislation cannot therefore make it a crime to hold any religious belief or opinion due to the Free Exercise Clause.[89] Legislation by the United States or any constituent state of the United States which forces anyone to embrace any religious belief or to say or believe anything in conflict with his religious tenets is also barred by the Free Exercise Clause.[89] Against this background, the Supreme Court stated that Free Exercise Clause broadly protects religious beliefs and opinions:
The free exercise of religion means, first and foremost, the right to believe and profess whatever religious doctrine one desires. Thus, the First Amendment obviously excludes all "governmental regulation of religious beliefs as such." Sherbert v. Verner supra, 374 U.S. at 374 U. S. 402. The government may not compel affirmation of religious belief, see Torcaso v. Watkins, 367 U. S. 488 (1961), punish the expression of religious doctrines it believes to be false, United States v. Ballard, 322 U. S. 78, 322 U. S. 86–88 (1944), impose special disabilities on the basis of religious views or religious status, see McDaniel v. Paty, 435 U. S. 618 (1978); Fowler v. Rhode Island, 345 U. S. 67, 345 U. S. 69 (1953); cf. Larson v. Valente, 456 U. S. 228, 456 U. S. 245 (1982), or lend its power to one or the other side in controversies over religious authority or dogma, see Presbyterian Church v. Hull Church, 393 U. S. 440, 393 U. S. 445–452 (1969); Kedroff v. St. Nicholas Cathedral, 344 U. S. 94, 344 U. S. 95–119 (1952); Serbian Eastern Orthodox Diocese v. Milivojevich, 426 U. S. 696, 426 U. S. 708–725 (1976). But the "exercise of religion" often involves not only belief and profession but the performance of (or abstention from) physical acts: assembling with others for a worship service, participating in sacramental use of bread and wine, proselytizing, abstaining from certain foods or certain modes of transportation. It would be true, we think (though no case of ours has involved the point), that a state would be "prohibiting the free exercise [of religion]" if it sought to ban such acts or abstentions only when they are engaged in for religious reasons, or only because of the religious belief that they display. It would doubtless be unconstitutional, for example, to ban the casting of "statues that are to be used for worship purposes," or to prohibit bowing down before a golden calf."[90]
In Sherbert v. Verner (1963),[91] the Supreme Court required states to meet the "strict scrutiny" standard when refusing to accommodate religiously motivated conduct. This meant the government needed to have a "compelling interest" regarding such a refusal. The case involved Adele Sherbert, who was denied unemployment benefits by South Carolina because she refused to work on Saturdays, something forbidden by her Seventh-day Adventist faith.[92] In Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972), the Court ruled that a law which "unduly burdens the practice of religion" without a compelling interest, even though it might be "neutral on its face", would be unconstitutional.[93][94]
The need for a compelling governmental interest was narrowed in Employment Division v. Smith (1990),[95] which held no such interest was required under the Free Exercise Clause regarding a neutral law of general applicability that happens to affect a religious practice, as opposed to a law that targets a particular religious practice (which does require a compelling governmental interest).[96] In Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah (1993),[97] in which the meaning of "neutral law of general applicability" was elaborated by the court,[98] the Supreme Court ruled Hialeah had passed an ordinance banning ritual slaughter, a practice central to the Santería religion, while providing exceptions for some practices such as the kosher slaughter. Since the ordinance was not "generally applicable", the Court ruled that it needed to have a compelling interest, which it failed to have, and so was declared unconstitutional.[99] In this case the Supreme Court also stated that inquiries whether laws discriminate based on religion does not end with the text of the laws at issue. Facial neutrality of laws (i.e. laws which are apparently neutral in their language but in reality discriminate against a particular group) is not determinative in these inquiries, because both the Free Exercise Clause and the Establishment Clause extends beyond facial discrimination.[100] The Supreme Court explained that "[o]fficial action that targets religious conduct for distinctive treatment cannot be shielded by mere compliance with the requirement of facial neutrality" and "[t]he Free Exercise Clause protects against governmental hostility which is masked as well as overt."[100] The neutrality of a law is also suspect if First Amendment freedoms are curtailed to prevent isolated collateral harms not themselves prohibited by direct regulation.[101] The Court also observed: "The Free Exercise Clause "protect[s] religious observers against unequal treatment," Hobbie v. Unemployment Appeals Comm'n of Fla., 480 U. S. 136, 148 (1987) (STEVENS, J., concurring in judgment), and inequality results when a legislature decides that the governmental interests it seeks to advance are worthy of being pursued only against conduct with a religious motivation. The principle that government, in pursuit of legitimate interests, cannot in a selective manner impose burdens only on conduct motivated by religious belief is essential to the protection of the rights guaranteed by the Free Exercise Clause."[102]
In 1993, the Congress passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), seeking to restore the compelling interest requirement applied in Sherbert and Yoder. In City of Boerne v. Flores (1997),[103] the Court struck down the provisions of RFRA that forced state and local governments to provide protections exceeding those required by the First Amendment, on the grounds that while the Congress could enforce the Supreme Court's interpretation of a constitutional right, the Congress could not impose its own interpretation on states and localities.[104] Congress can enact legislation to expand First Amendment free exercise rights through its enforcement powers in Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment, but to do so "there must be a congruence and proportionality between the injury to be prevented or remedied and the means adopted to that end."[105] The decision in City of Boerne struck down the Religious Freedom Restoration Act RFRA in so far as it applied to states and other local municipalities within them.,[105] so that partly in response to it 21 states enacted State Religious Freedom Restoration Acts since 1993.[106] According to the court's ruling in Gonzales v. UDV (2006),[107] RFRA remains applicable to federal laws and so those laws must still have a "compelling interest."[108]
RFRA secures Congress’ view of the right to free exercise under the First Amendment, and it provides a remedy to redress violations of that right.[109] The Supreme Court decided in light of this in Tanzin v. Tanvir (2020) that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act's express remedies provision permits litigants, when appropriate, to obtain money damages against federal officials in their individual capacities.[110] This decision is significant "not only for the plaintiffs but also for cases involving violations of religious rights more broadly."[111] In the 1982 U.S. Supreme Court case United States v. Lee (1982) (1982) the Court declared: "Congress and the courts have been sensitive to the needs flowing from the Free Exercise Clause, but every person cannot be shielded from all the burdens incident to exercising every aspect of the right to practice religious beliefs. When followers of a particular sect enter into commercial activity as a matter of choice, the limits they accept on their own conduct as a matter of conscience and faith are not to be superimposed on the statutory schemes which are binding on others in that activity."[112][113] The Supreme Court in Estate of Thornton v. Caldor, Inc. (1985) echoed this statement by quoting Judge Learned Hand from his 1953 case Otten v. Baltimore & Ohio R. Co., 205 F.2d 58, 61 (CA2 1953): "The First Amendment ... gives no one the right to insist that, in pursuit of their own interests others must conform their conduct to his own religious necessities."[114] In Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. (2014) the Supreme Court had to decide, with a view to the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause and the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, "the profound cultural question of whether a private, profit-making business organized as a corporation can "exercise" religion and, if it can, how far that is protected from government interference."[115] The Court decided that closely held, for-profit corporations have free exercise rights under the RFRA,[116] but its decision was not based on the constitutional protections of the First Amendment.[117]
In Locke v. Davey (2004), the Court stated, "[g]iven the historic and substantial state interest at issue, it cannot be concluded that the denial of funding for vocational religious instruction alone is inherently constitutionally suspect",[118] explaining that denying funding a scholarship when it was going to be used for education in theology and when that state's constitution forbids state aid to religious institutions "was not presumptively unconstitutional, because the state was neither criminalizing nor penalizing the study of theology."[119] The Court ruled therefore that a state has a "substantial state interest" in denying funding a scholarship when it was going to be used for education in theology and when that state's constitution forbids state aid to religious institutions.[119] In Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer (2017),[120] the Court ruled that denying a generally available public benefit on account of the religious nature of an institution violates the Free Exercise Clause.[121] In Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue (2020),[122] the Court ruled that the Free Exercise Clause forbad a state from denying a tax credit on the basis of a Blaine Amendment in that state's constitution, which the Court said is subject to the "strictest scrutiny" and can only survive if it is "narrowly tailored" to promote "interests of the highest order".[123] Citing Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Association (1988) the Supreme Court decided in the Espinoza follow-up case Carson v. Makin (2022) that the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment protects against “indirect coercion or penalties on the free exercise of religion, not just outright prohibitions.”[124]
The First Amendment broadly protects the rights of free speech and free press.[125] Free speech means the free and public expression of opinions without censorship, interference, or restraint by the government.[126][127][128][129] The term "freedom of speech" embedded in the First Amendment encompasses the decision what to say as well as what not to say.[130] The speech covered by the First Amendment covers many ways of expression and therefore protects what people say as well as how they express themselves.[131] Free press means the right of individuals to express themselves through publication and dissemination of information, ideas, and opinions without interference, constraint, or prosecution by the government.[132][133] In Murdock v. Pennsylvania (1943), the Supreme Court stated that "Freedom of press, freedom of speech, freedom of religion are in a preferred position".[134] The Court added that a community may not suppress, or the state tax, the dissemination of views because they are unpopular, annoying, or distasteful. That would be a complete repudiation of the philosophy of the Bill of Rights, according to the Court.[135] In Stanley v. Georgia (1969), the Supreme Court stated that the First Amendment protects the right to receive information and ideas, regardless of their social worth, and to be generally free from governmental intrusions into one's privacy and control of one's own thoughts.[136]
The Supreme Court of the United States characterized the rights of free speech and free press as fundamental personal rights and liberties and noted that the exercise of these rights lies at the foundation of free government by free men.[137][138] The Supreme Court stated in Thornhill v. Alabama (1940) that the freedom of speech and of the press guaranteed by the United States Constitution embraces at the least the liberty to discuss publicly and truthfully all matters of public concern, without previous restraint or fear of subsequent punishment.[139] In Bond v. Floyd (1966), a case involving the Constitutional shield around the speech of elected officials, the Supreme Court declared that the First Amendment central commitment is that, in the words of New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964), "debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open."[140] The Court further explained that just as erroneous statements must be protected to give freedom of expression the breathing space it needs to survive, so statements criticizing public policy and the implementation of it must be similarly protected.[140] The Supreme Court in Chicago Police Dept. v. Mosley (1972) said:
"But, above all else, the First Amendment means that government has no power to restrict expression because of its message, its ideas, its subject matter, or its content. ... To permit the continued building of our politics and culture, and to assure self-fulfillment for each individual, our people are guaranteed the right to express any thought, free from government censorship. The essence of this forbidden censorship is content control. Any restriction on expressive activity because of its content would completely undercut the "profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open.""[125]
The level of protections with respect to free speech and free press given by the First Amendment is not limitless. As stated in his concurrence in Chicago Police Dept. v. Mosley (1972), Chief Justice Warren E. Burger said:
"Numerous holdings of this Court attest to the fact that the First Amendment does not literally mean that we "are guaranteed the right to express any thought, free from government censorship." This statement is subject to some qualifications, as for example those of Roth v. United States, 354 U. S. 476 (1957); Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, 315 U. S. 568 (1942). See also New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U. S. 254 (1964)."[141]
Attached to the core rights of free speech and free press are several peripheral rights that make these core rights more secure. The peripheral rights encompass not only freedom of association, including privacy in one's associations, but also, in the words of Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), "the freedom of the entire university community", i.e., the right to distribute, the right to receive, and the right to read, as well as freedom of inquiry, freedom of thought, and freedom to teach.[142] The United States Constitution protects, according to the Supreme Court in Stanley v. Georgia (1969), the right to receive information and ideas, regardless of their social worth, and to be generally free from governmental intrusions into one's privacy and control of one's thoughts.[143] As stated by the Court in Stanley: "If the First Amendment means anything, it means that a State has no business telling a man, sitting alone in his own house, what books he may read or what films he may watch. Our whole constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds."[144]
The First Amendment bars Congress from "abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press". U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens commented about this phraseology in a 1993 journal article: "I emphasize the word 'the' in the term 'the freedom of speech' because the definite article suggests that the draftsmen intended to immunize a previously identified category or subset of speech." Stevens said that, otherwise, the clause might absurdly immunize things like false testimony under oath.[145] Like Stevens, journalist Anthony Lewis wrote: "The word 'the' can be read to mean what was understood at the time to be included in the concept of free speech."[146] But what was understood at the time is not 100% clear.[147] In the late 1790s, the lead author of the speech and press clauses, James Madison, argued against narrowing this freedom to what had existed under English common law:
The practice in America must be entitled to much more respect. In every state, probably, in the Union, the press has exerted a freedom in canvassing the merits and measures of public men, of every description, which has not been confined to the strict limits of the common law.[148]
Madison wrote this in 1799, when he was in a dispute about the constitutionality of the Alien and Sedition Laws, which was legislation enacted in 1798 by President John Adams' Federalist Party to ban seditious libel. Madison believed that legislation to be unconstitutional, and his adversaries in that dispute, such as John Marshall, advocated the narrow freedom of speech that had existed in the English common law.[148]
The Supreme Court declined to rule on the constitutionality of any federal law regarding the Free Speech Clause until the 20th century. For example, the Supreme Court never ruled on the Alien and Sedition Acts; three Supreme Court justices riding circuit presided over sedition trials without indicating any reservations.[149] The leading critics of the law, Vice President Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, argued for the Acts' unconstitutionality based on the First Amendment and other Constitutional provisions.[150] Jefferson succeeded Adams as president, in part due to the unpopularity of the latter's sedition prosecutions; he and his party quickly overturned the Acts and pardoned those imprisoned by them.[151] In the majority opinion in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964),[152] the Court noted the importance of this public debate as a precedent in First Amendment law and ruled that the Acts had been unconstitutional: "Although the Sedition Act was never tested in this Court, the attack upon its validity has carried the day in the court of history."[153][154]
During the patriotic fervor of World War I and the First Red Scare, the Espionage Act of 1917 imposed a maximum sentence of twenty years for anyone who caused or attempted to cause "insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty in the military or naval forces of the United States". Specifically, the Espionage Act of 1917 states that if anyone allows any enemies to enter or fly over the United States and obtain information from a place connected with the national defense, they will be punished.[155] Hundreds of prosecutions followed.[156] In 1919, the Supreme Court heard four appeals resulting from these cases: Schenck v. United States, Debs v. United States, Frohwerk v. United States, and Abrams v. United States.[157]
In the first of these cases, Socialist Party of America official Charles Schenck had been convicted under the Espionage Act for publishing leaflets urging resistance to the draft.[158] Schenck appealed, arguing that the Espionage Act violated the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment. In Schenck v. United States, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected Schenck's appeal and affirmed his conviction.[159] Debate continued over whether Schenck went against the right to freedom of speech protected by the First Amendment. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., writing for the Court, explained that "the question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent."[160] One week later, in Frohwerk v. United States, the court again upheld an Espionage Act conviction, this time that of a journalist who had criticized U.S. involvement in foreign wars.[161][162]
In Debs v. United States, the Court elaborated on the "clear and present danger" test established in Schenck.[163] On June 16, 1918, Eugene V. Debs, a political activist, delivered a speech in Canton, Ohio, in which he spoke of "most loyal comrades were paying the penalty to the working class—these being Wagenknecht, Baker and Ruthenberg, who had been convicted of aiding and abetting another in failing to register for the draft."[164] Following his speech, Debs was charged and convicted under the Espionage Act. In upholding his conviction, the Court reasoned that although he had not spoken any words that posed a "clear and present danger", taken in context, the speech had a "natural tendency and a probable effect to obstruct the recruiting services".[165][166] In Abrams v. United States, four Russian refugees appealed their conviction for throwing leaflets from a building in New York; the leaflets argued against President Woodrow Wilson's intervention in Russia against the October Revolution. The majority upheld their conviction, but Holmes and Justice Louis Brandeis dissented, holding that the government had demonstrated no "clear and present danger" in the four's political advocacy.[161]
The Supreme Court denied a number of Free Speech Clause claims throughout the 1920s, including the appeal of a labor organizer, Benjamin Gitlow, who had been convicted after distributing a manifesto calling for a "revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat".[167] In Gitlow v. New York (1925), the Court upheld the conviction, but a majority also found that the First Amendment applied to state laws as well as federal laws, via the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.[168][169] Holmes and Brandeis dissented in several more cases in this decade, however, advancing the argument that the Free Speech Clause protected a far greater range of political speech than the Court had previously acknowledged. In Whitney v. California (1927),[170] in which Communist Party USA organizer Charlotte Anita Whitney had been arrested for "criminal syndicalism", Brandeis wrote a dissent in which he argued for broader protections for political speech:
Those who won our independence ... believed that freedom to think as you will and to speak as you think are means indispensable to the discovery and spread of political truth; that without free speech and assembly discussion would be futile; that with them, discussion affords ordinarily adequate protection against the dissemination of noxious doctrine; that the greatest menace to freedom is an inert people; that public discussion is a political duty; and that this should be a fundamental principle of the American government.[171]
In Herndon v. Lowry (1937), the Court heard the case of African American Communist Party organizer Angelo Herndon, who had been convicted under the Slave Insurrection Statute for advocating black rule in the southern United States. The Court reversed Herndon's conviction, holding that Georgia had failed to demonstrate any "clear and present danger" in Herndon's political advocacy.[172] The clear and present danger test was again invoked by the majority in the 1940 Thornhill v. Alabama decision in which a state antipicketing law was invalidated.[173][174][175] The importance of freedom of speech in the context of "clear and present danger" was emphasized in Terminiello v. City of Chicago (1949)[176] where the Supreme Court noted that the vitality of civil and political institutions in society depends on free discussion.[177] Democracy requires free speech because it is only through free debate and free exchange of ideas that government remains responsive to the will of the people and peaceful change is effected.[177] Restrictions on free speech are only permissible when the speech at issue is likely to produce a clear and present danger of a serious substantive evil that rises far above public inconvenience, annoyance, or unrest.[177] Justice William O. Douglas wrote for the Court that "a function of free speech under our system is to invite dispute. It may indeed best serve its high purpose when it induces a condition of unrest, creates dissatisfaction with conditions as they are, or even stirs people to anger."[177]
Although the Court referred to the clear and present danger test in a few decisions following Thornhill,[178] the bad tendency test was not explicitly overruled,[173] and the clear and present danger test was not applied in several subsequent free speech cases involving incitement to violence.[179] In 1940, Congress enacted the Smith Act, making it illegal to advocate "the propriety of overthrowing or destroying any government in the United States by force and violence".[180] The statute provided law enforcement a tool to combat Communist leaders. Eugene Dennis was convicted in the Foley Square trial for attempting to organize a Communist Party.[181] In Dennis v. United States (1951),[182] the Court upheld the Smith Act.[g][183] Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson relied on Holmes' "clear and present danger" test as adapted by Learned Hand: "In each case [courts] must ask whether the gravity of the 'evil', discounted by its improbability, justifies such invasion of free speech as necessary to avoid the danger."[184] Clearly, Vinson suggested, clear and present danger did not intimate "that before the Government may act, it must wait until the putsch is about to be executed, the plans have been laid and the signal is awaited."[185] In a concurring opinion, Justice Felix Frankfurter proposed a "balancing test", which soon supplanted the "clear and present danger" test:
The demands of free speech in a democratic society as well as the interest in national security are better served by candid and informed weighing of the competing interests, within the confines of the judicial process.[183]
In Yates v. United States (1957), the Supreme Court limited the Smith Act prosecutions to "advocacy of action" rather than "advocacy in the realm of ideas". Advocacy of abstract doctrine remained protected while speech explicitly inciting the forcible overthrow of the government was punishable under the Smith Act.[186][187]
During the Vietnam War, the Court's position on public criticism of the government changed drastically. Though the Court upheld a law prohibiting the forgery, mutilation, or destruction of draft cards in United States v. O'Brien (1968),[188] fearing that burning draft cards would interfere with the "smooth and efficient functioning" of the draft system,[189][190] the next year, the court handed down its decision in Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969),[191] expressly overruling Whitney v. California.[192] Brandenburg discarded the "clear and present danger" test introduced in Schenck and further eroded Dennis.[193][194] Now the Supreme Court referred to the right to speak openly of violent action and revolution in broad terms:
[Our] decisions have fashioned the principle that the constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press do not allow a State to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force or law violation except where such advocacy is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or cause such action.[195]
In Cohen v. California (1971),[196] the Court voted reversed the conviction of a man wearing a jacket reading "Fuck the Draft" in the corridors of a Los Angeles County courthouse. Justice John Marshall Harlan II wrote in the majority opinion that Cohen's jacket fell in the category of protected political speech despite the use of an expletive: "One man's vulgarity is another man's lyric."[197] In Matal v. Tam (2017) the Supreme Court noted that "the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment" contains "a bedrock First Amendment principle: Speech may not be banned on the ground that it expresses ideas that offend."[198][199] The Court ruled that the government cannot ban expression merely because it is offensive. In the majority opinion, Justice Alito wrote:
Speech that demeans on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, age, disability, or any other similar ground is hateful; but the proudest boast of our free speech jurisprudence is that we protect the freedom to express "the thought that we hate." United States v. Schwimmer, 279 U. S. 644, 655 (1929) (Holmes, J., dissenting).[200][201]
A plurality opinion[h] in Matal v. Tam (2017) affirmed the principle "that “the public expression of ideas may not be prohibited merely because the ideas are themselves offensive to some of their hearers.” Street v. New York, 394 U. S. 576, 592 (1969)."[203]
The ability to publicly criticize even the most prominent politicians and leaders without fear of retaliation is part of the First Amendment, because political speech is core First Amendment speech. As the Supreme Court stated with respect to the judicial branch of the government exemplarily that the First Amendment prohibits "any law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ... It must be taken as a command of the broadest scope that explicit language, read in the context of a liberty-loving society, will allow. [...] The assumption that respect for the judiciary can be won by shielding judges from published criticism wrongly appraises the character of American public opinion. For it is a prized American privilege to speak one's mind, although not always with perfect good taste, on all public institutions. And an enforced silence, however limited, solely in the name of preserving the dignity of the bench would probably engender resentment, suspicion, and contempt much more than it would enhance respect."[204]
In Talley v. California (1960),[205] the Court struck down a Los Angeles city ordinance that made it a crime to distribute anonymous pamphlets. Justice Hugo Black wrote in the majority opinion: "There can be no doubt that such an identification requirement would tend to restrict freedom to distribute information and thereby freedom of expression. ... Anonymous pamphlets, leaflets, brochures and even books have played an important role in the progress of mankind."[206] In McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission (1995),[207] the Court struck down an Ohio statute that made it a crime to distribute anonymous campaign literature.[208] However, in Meese v. Keene (1987),[209] the Court upheld the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, under which several Canadian films were defined as "political propaganda", requiring their sponsors to be identified.[210]
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In Buckley v. Valeo (1976),[211] the Supreme Court reviewed the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 and related laws, which restricted the monetary contributions that may be made to political campaigns and expenditure by candidates. The Court affirmed the constitutionality of limits on campaign contributions, saying they "serve[d] the basic governmental interest in safeguarding the integrity of the electoral process without directly impinging upon the rights of individual citizens and candidates to engage in political debate and discussion."[212] However, the Court overturned the spending limits, which it found imposed "substantial restraints on the quantity of political speech".[213][214]
The court again scrutinized campaign finance regulation in McConnell v. Federal Election Commission (2003).[215] The case centered on the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA), a federal law that imposed new restrictions on campaign financing. The Supreme Court upheld provisions which barred the raising of soft money by national parties and the use of soft money by private organizations to fund certain advertisements related to elections. However, the Court struck down the "choice of expenditure" rule, which required that parties could either make coordinated expenditures for all its candidates, or permit candidates to spend independently, but not both, which the Court agreed "placed an unconstitutional burden on the parties' right to make unlimited independent expenditures".[216] The Court also ruled that the provision preventing minors from making political contributions was unconstitutional, relying on Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District.
In Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. (2007),[217] the Court sustained an "as applied" challenge to BCRA, holding that issue ads may not be banned from the months preceding a primary or general election. In Davis v. Federal Election Commission (2008),[218] the Supreme Court declared the "Millionaire's Amendment" provisions of the BCRA to be unconstitutional. The Court held that easing BCRA restrictions for an opponent of a self-financing candidate spending at least $350,000 of his or her own money violated the freedom of speech of the self-financing candidate.[219]
In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010),[220] the Court ruled that the BCRA's federal restrictions on electoral advocacy by corporations or unions were unconstitutional for violating the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment. The Court overruled Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce (1990),[221] which had upheld a state law that prohibited corporations from using treasury funds to support or oppose candidates in elections did not violate the First or Fourteenth Amendments. The Court also overruled the portion of McConnell that upheld such restrictions under the BCRA.[222] In other words, the ruling was considered to hold that "political spending is a form of protected speech under the First Amendment".[223]
In McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission (2014),[224] the Court ruled that federal aggregate limits on how much a person can donate to candidates, political parties, and political action committees, combined respectively in a two-year period known as an "election cycle", violated the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment.[225]
The divisive issue of flag desecration as a form of protest first came before the Supreme Court in Street v. New York (1969).[226] In response to hearing an erroneous report of the murder of civil rights activist James Meredith, Sidney Street burned a 48-star U.S. flag. Street was arrested and charged with a New York state law making it a crime "publicly [to] mutilate, deface, defile, or defy, trample upon, or cast contempt upon either by words or act [any flag of the United States]".[227] The Court, relying on Stromberg v. California (1931),[228] found that because the provision of the New York law criminalizing "words" against the flag was unconstitutional, and the trial did not sufficiently demonstrate he had been convicted solely under the provisions not yet deemed unconstitutional, the conviction was unconstitutional. The Court, however, "resist[ed] the pulls to decide the constitutional issues involved in this case on a broader basis" and left the constitutionality of flag-burning unaddressed.[229][230]
The ambiguity with regard to flag-burning statutes was eliminated in Texas v. Johnson (1989).[231] In that case, Gregory Lee Johnson burned an American flag at a demonstration during the 1984 Republican National Convention in Dallas, Texas. Charged with violating a Texas law prohibiting the vandalizing of venerated objects, Johnson was convicted, sentenced to one year in prison, and fined $2,000. The Supreme Court reversed his conviction. Justice William J. Brennan Jr. wrote in the decision that "if there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea offensive or disagreeable."[232] Congress then passed a federal law barring flag burning, but the Supreme Court struck it down as well in United States v. Eichman (1990).[233][234] A Flag Desecration Amendment to the U.S. Constitution has been proposed repeatedly in Congress since 1989, and in 2006 failed to pass the Senate by a single vote.[235]
While the unauthorized wear or sale of the Medal of Honor has been a punishable offense under federal law since the early twentieth century,[236][237] the Stolen Valor Act criminalized the act of not only wearing, but also verbally claiming entitlement to military awards a person did not in fact earn.[238] In United States v. Alvarez (2012), the Supreme Court struck down the Act, ruling that the First Amendment bars the government from punishing people for making false claims regarding military service or honors where the false claim was not "made to effect a fraud or secure moneys or other valuable considerations". The Supreme Court could not agree on a single rationale for its decision.[239]
The Supreme Court has determined that the First Amendment also protects citizens from being compelled by the government to say or to pay for certain speech.
In West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943), the Court ruled that school children could not be punished for refusing either to say the pledge of allegiance or salute the American flag. The Court also overruled Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940), which had upheld such punishments of school children.[240]
In National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra (2018), the Court ruled that a California law requiring crisis pregnancy centers to post notices informing patients they can obtain free or low-cost abortions and include the number of the state agency that can connect the women with abortion providers violated those centers' right to free speech.[241]
In Janus v. AFSCME (2018), the Court ruled that requiring a public sector employee to pay dues to a union of which he is not a member violated the First Amendment. According to the Court, "the First Amendment does not permit the government to compel a person to pay for another party's speech just because the government thinks that the speech furthers the interests of the person who does not want to pay." The Court also overruled Abood v. Detroit Board of Education (1977), which had upheld legally obligating public sector employees to pay such dues.[242]
Commercial speech is speech done on behalf of a company or individual for the purpose of making a profit. Unlike political speech, the Supreme Court does not afford commercial speech full protection under the First Amendment. To effectively distinguish commercial speech from other types of speech for purposes of litigation, the Court uses a list of four indicia:[243]
Alone, each indicium does not compel the conclusion that an instance of speech is commercial; however, "[t]he combination of all these characteristics ... provides strong support for ... the conclusion that the [speech is] properly characterized as commercial speech."[244]
In Valentine v. Chrestensen (1942),[245] the Court upheld a New York City ordinance forbidding the "distribution in the streets of commercial and business advertising matter", ruling the First Amendment protection of free speech did not include commercial speech.[246]
In Virginia State Pharmacy Board v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council (1976),[247] the Court overturned Valentine and ruled that commercial speech was entitled to First Amendment protection:
What is at issue is whether a State may completely suppress the dissemination of concededly truthful information about entirely lawful activity, fearful of that information's effect upon its disseminators and its recipients. ... [W]e conclude that the answer to this one is in the negative.[248]
In Ohralik v. Ohio State Bar Association (1978),[249] the Court ruled that commercial speech was not protected by the First Amendment as much as other types of speech:
We have not discarded the 'common-sense' distinction between speech proposing a commercial transaction, which occurs in an area traditionally subject to government regulation, and other varieties of speech. To require a parity of constitutional protection for commercial and noncommercial speech alike could invite a dilution, simply by a leveling process, of the force of the [First] Amendment's guarantee with respect to the latter kind of speech.[250]
In Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission (1980),[251] the Court clarified what analysis was required before the government could justify regulating commercial speech:
Six years later, the U.S. Supreme Court, applying the Central Hudson standards in Posadas de Puerto Rico Associates v. Tourism Company of Puerto Rico (1986),[252] affirmed the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico's conclusion that Puerto Rico's Games of Chance Act of 1948, including the regulations thereunder, was not facially unconstitutional. The lax interpretation of Central Hudson adopted by Posadas was soon restricted under 44 Liquormart, Inc. v. Rhode Island (1996),[253] when the Court invalidated a Rhode Island law prohibiting the publication of liquor prices.
In Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969),[254] the Supreme Court extended free speech rights to students in school. The case involved several students who were punished for wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam War. The Court ruled that the school could not restrict symbolic speech that did not "materially and substantially" interrupt school activities.[255] Justice Abe Fortas wrote:
First Amendment rights, applied in light of the special characteristics of the school environment, are available to teachers and students. It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate. ... [S]chools may not be enclaves of totalitarianism. School officials do not possess absolute authority over their students. Students ... are possessed of fundamental rights which the State must respect, just as they themselves must respect their obligations to the State.[256]
In Healy v. James (1972), the Court ruled that Central Connecticut State College's refusal to recognize a campus chapter of Students for a Democratic Society was unconstitutional, reaffirming Tinker.[257]
However, since 1969 the Court has also placed several limitations on Tinker. In Bethel School District v. Fraser (1986),[258] the Court ruled that a student could be punished for his sexual-innuendo-laced speech before a school assembly and, in Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier (1988),[259] the Court found that schools need not tolerate student speech that is inconsistent with their basic educational mission.[260] In Morse v. Frederick (2007),[261] the Court ruled that schools could restrict student speech at school-sponsored events, even events away from school grounds, if students promote "illegal drug use".[262]
In 2014, the University of Chicago released the "Chicago Statement", a free speech policy statement designed to combat censorship on campus. This statement was later adopted by a number of top-ranked universities including Princeton University, Washington University in St. Louis, Johns Hopkins University, and Columbia University.[263][264]
In Packingham v. North Carolina (2017), the Supreme Court held that a North Carolina law prohibiting registered sex offenders from accessing various websites impermissibly restricted lawful speech in violation of the First Amendment.[265] The Court held that "a fundamental principle of the First Amendment is that all persons have access to places where they can speak and listen, and then, after reflection, speak and listen once more."[266][267]
According to the U.S. Supreme Court, the First Amendment's protection of free speech does not apply to obscene speech. Therefore, both the federal government and the states have tried to prohibit or otherwise restrict obscene speech, in particular the form that is now[update] called pornography. As of 2019[update], pornography, except for child pornography, is in practice free of governmental restrictions in the United States, though pornography about "extreme" sexual practices is occasionally prosecuted. The change in the twentieth century, from total prohibition in 1900 to near-total tolerance in 2000, reflects a series of court cases involving the definition of obscenity. The U.S. Supreme Court has found that most pornography is not obscene, a result of changing definitions of both obscenity and pornography.[39] The legal tolerance also reflects changed social attitudes: one reason there are so few prosecutions for pornography is that juries will not convict.[268]
In Rosen v. United States (1896), the Supreme Court adopted the same obscenity standard as had been articulated in a famous British case, Regina v. Hicklin (1868).[269] The Hicklin test defined material as obscene if it tended "to deprave or corrupt those whose minds are open to such immoral influences, and into whose hands a publication of this sort may fall".[270] In the early twentieth century, literary works including An American Tragedy (Theodore Dreiser, 1925) and Lady Chatterley's Lover (D.H. Lawrence, 1928) were banned for obscenity. In the federal district court case United States v. One Book Called Ulysses (1933), Judge John M. Woolsey established a new standard to evaluate James Joyce's novel Ulysses (1922), stating that works must be considered in their entirety, rather than declared obscene on the basis of an individual part of the work.[271]
The Supreme Court ruled in Roth v. United States (1957)[272] that the First Amendment did not protect obscenity.[271] It also ruled that the Hicklin test was inappropriate; instead, the Roth test for obscenity was "whether to the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of the material, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest".[273] This definition proved hard to apply, however, and in the following decade, members of the Court often reviewed films individually in a court building screening room to determine if they should be considered obscene.[274] Justice Potter Stewart, in Jacobellis v. Ohio (1964),[275] famously said that, although he could not precisely define pornography, "I know it when I see it".[276][277]
The Roth test was expanded when the Court decided Miller v. California (1973).[278] Under the Miller test, a work is obscene if:
(a) 'the average person, applying contemporary community standards' would find the work, as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest ... (b) ... the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law, and (c) ... the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.[279]
"Community" standards—not national standards—are applied to determine whether allegedly obscene material appeals to the prurient interest and is patently offensive.[271] By contrast, the question whether a work lacks serious value depends upon "whether a reasonable person would find such value in the material, taken as a whole."[280]
Child pornography is not subject to the Miller test, as the Supreme Court decided in New York v. Ferber (1982) and Osborne v. Ohio (1990),[281][282] ruling that the government's interest in protecting children from abuse was paramount.[283][284]
Personal possession of obscene material in the home may not be prohibited by law. In Stanley v. Georgia (1969),[285] the Court ruled that "[i]f the First Amendment means anything, it means that a State has no business telling a man, sitting in his own house, what books he may read or what films he may watch."[144] However, it is constitutionally permissible for the government to prevent the mailing or sale of obscene items, though they may be viewed only in private. Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition (2002)[286] further upheld these rights by invalidating the Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996, holding that, because the act "[p]rohibit[ed] child pornography that does not depict an actual child" (simulated child pornography) it was overly broad and unconstitutional under the First Amendment[287] and:
First Amendment freedoms are most in danger when the government seeks to control thought or to justify its laws for that impermissible end. The right to think is the beginning of freedom, and speech must be protected from the government because speech is the beginning of thought.[288]
In United States v. Williams (2008),[289] the Court upheld the PROTECT Act of 2003, ruling that prohibiting offers to provide and requests to obtain child pornography did not violate the First Amendment, even if a person charged under the Act did not possess child pornography.[290][291]
In some states, there are Son of Sam laws prohibiting convicted criminals from publishing memoirs for profit.[292] These laws were a response to offers to David Berkowitz to write memoirs about the murders he committed. The Supreme Court struck down a law of this type in New York as a violation of the First Amendment in the case Simon & Schuster v. Crime Victims Board (1991).[293] That statute did not prohibit publication of a memoir by a convicted criminal. Instead, it provided that all profits from the book were to be put in escrow for a time. The interest from the escrow account was used to fund the New York State Crime Victims Board—an organization that pays the medical and related bills of victims of crime. Similar laws in other states remain unchallenged.[294]
American tort liability for defamatory speech or publications traces its origins to English common law. For the first two hundred years of American jurisprudence, the basic substance of defamation law continued to resemble that existing in England at the time of the Revolution. An 1898 American legal textbook on defamation provides definitions of libel and slander nearly identical to those given by William Blackstone and Edward Coke. An action of slander required the following:[295]
An action of libel required the same five general points as slander, except that it specifically involved the publication of defamatory statements.[296] For certain criminal charges of libel, such as seditious libel, the truth or falsity of the statements was immaterial, as such laws were intended to maintain public support of the government and true statements could damage this support even more than false ones.[297] Instead, libel placed specific emphasis on the result of the publication. Libelous publications tended to "degrade and injure another person" or "bring him into contempt, hatred or ridicule".[296]
Concerns that defamation under common law might be incompatible with the new republican form of government caused early American courts to struggle between William Blackstone's argument that the punishment of "dangerous or offensive writings ... [was] necessary for the preservation of peace and good order, of government and religion, the only solid foundations of civil liberty" and the argument that the need for a free press guaranteed by the Constitution outweighed the fear of what might be written.[297] Consequently, very few changes were made in the first two centuries after the ratification of the First Amendment.
The Supreme Court's ruling in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964)[152] fundamentally changed American defamation law. The case redefined the type of "malice" needed to sustain a libel case. Common law malice consisted of "ill-will" or "wickedness". Now, a public officials seeking to sustain a civil action against a tortfeasor needed to prove by "clear and convincing evidence" that there was actual malice. The case involved an advertisement published in The New York Times indicating that officials in Montgomery, Alabama had acted violently in suppressing the protests of African-Americans during the civil rights movement. The Montgomery Police Commissioner, L. B. Sullivan, sued the Times for libel, saying the advertisement damaged his reputation. The Supreme Court unanimously reversed the $500,000 judgment against the Times. Justice Brennan suggested that public officials may sue for libel only if the statements in question were published with "actual malice"—"knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not".[298][299] In sum, the court held that "the First Amendment protects the publication of all statements, even false ones, about the conduct of public officials except when statements are made with actual malice (with knowledge that they are false or in reckless disregard of their truth or falsity)."[300]
While actual malice standard applies to public officials and public figures,[301] in Philadelphia Newspapers v. Hepps (1988),[302] the Court found that, with regard to private individuals, the First Amendment does "not necessarily force any change in at least some features of the common-law landscape".[303] In Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. v. Greenmoss Builders, Inc. (1985)[304] the Court ruled that "actual malice" need not be shown in cases involving private individuals, holding that "[i]n light of the reduced constitutional value of speech involving no matters of public concern ... the state interest adequately supports awards of presumed and punitive damages—even absent a showing of 'actual malice'."[305][306] In Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. (1974), the Court ruled that a private individual had to prove malice only to be awarded punitive damages, not actual damages.[307][308] In Hustler Magazine v. Falwell (1988),[309] the Court extended the "actual malice" standard to intentional infliction of emotional distress in a ruling which protected parody, in this case a fake advertisement in Hustler suggesting that evangelist Jerry Falwell's first sexual experience had been with his mother in an outhouse. Since Falwell was a public figure, the Court ruled that "importance of the free flow of ideas and opinions on matters of public interest and concern" was the paramount concern, and reversed the judgement Falwell had won against Hustler for emotional distress.[310]
In Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co. (1990),[311] the Court ruled that the First Amendment offers no wholesale exception to defamation law for statements labeled "opinion", but instead that a statement must be provably false (falsifiable) before it can be the subject of a libel suit.[312] Nonetheless, it has been argued that Milkovich and other cases effectively provide for an opinion privilege.[313]
Despite the common misconception that the First Amendment prohibits anyone from limiting free speech,[2] the text of the amendment prohibits only the federal government, the states and local governments from doing so.[314]
State constitutions provide free speech protections similar to those of the U.S. Constitution. In a few states, such as California, a state constitution has been interpreted as providing more comprehensive protections than the First Amendment. The Supreme Court has permitted states to extend such enhanced protections, most notably in Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins.[315] In that case, the Court unanimously ruled that while the First Amendment may allow private property owners to prohibit trespass by political speakers and petition-gatherers, California was permitted to restrict property owners whose property is equivalent to a traditional public forum (often shopping malls and grocery stores) from enforcing their private property rights to exclude such individuals.[316] However, the Court did maintain that shopping centers could impose "reasonable restrictions on expressive activity".[317] Subsequently, New Jersey, Colorado, Massachusetts and Puerto Rico courts have adopted the doctrine;[318][319] California's courts have repeatedly reaffirmed it.[320]
The free speech and free press clauses have been interpreted as providing the same protection to speakers as to writers, except for radio and television wireless broadcasting which have, for historical reasons, been given less constitutional protections.[321] The Free Press Clause protects the right of individuals to express themselves through publication and dissemination of information, ideas and opinions without interference, constraint or prosecution by the government.[132][133] This right was described in Branzburg v. Hayes as "a fundamental personal right" that is not confined to newspapers and periodicals, but also embraces pamphlets and leaflets.[322] In Lovell v. City of Griffin (1938),[323] Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes defined "press" as "every sort of publication which affords a vehicle of information and opinion".[324] This right has been extended to media including newspapers, books, plays, movies, and video games.[325] While it is an open question whether people who blog or use social media are journalists entitled to protection by media shield laws,[326] they are protected equally by the Free Speech Clause and the Free Press Clause, because both clauses do not distinguish between media businesses and nonprofessional speakers.[132][133][327][328] This is further shown by the Supreme Court consistently refusing to recognize the First Amendment as providing greater protection to the institutional media than to other speakers.[329][330][331] For example, in a case involving campaign finance laws the Court rejected the "suggestion that communication by corporate members of the institutional press is entitled to greater constitutional protection than the same communication by" non-institutional-press businesses.[332] Justice Felix Frankfurter stated in a concurring opinion in another case succinctly: "[T]he purpose of the Constitution was not to erect the press into a privileged institution but to protect all persons in their right to print what they will as well as to utter it."[333] In Mills v. Alabama (1943) the Supreme Court laid out the purpose of the free press clause:
Whatever differences may exist about interpretations of the First Amendment, there is practically universal agreement that a major purpose of that Amendment was to protect the free discussion of governmental affairs. This, of course, includes discussions of candidates, structures and forms of government, the manner in which government is operated or should be operated, and all such matters relating to political processes. The Constitution specifically selected the press, which includes not only newspapers, books, and magazines, but also humble leaflets and circulars, see Lovell v. Griffin, 303 U. S. 444, to play an important role in the discussion of public affairs. Thus, the press serves and was designed to serve as a powerful antidote to any abuses of power by governmental officials, and as a constitutionally chosen means for keeping officials elected by the people responsible to all the people whom they were selected to serve. Suppression of the right of the press to praise or criticize governmental agents and to clamor and contend for or against change, which is all that this editorial did, muzzles one of the very agencies the Framers of our Constitution thoughtfully and deliberately selected to improve our society and keep it free.[334]
A landmark decision for press freedom came in Near v. Minnesota (1931),[335] in which the Supreme Court rejected prior restraint (pre-publication censorship). In this case, the Minnesota legislature passed a statute allowing courts to shut down "malicious, scandalous and defamatory newspapers", allowing a defense of truth only in cases where the truth had been told "with good motives and for justifiable ends".[336] The Court applied the Free Press Clause to the states, rejecting the statute as unconstitutional. Hughes quoted Madison in the majority decision, writing, "The impairment of the fundamental security of life and property by criminal alliances and official neglect emphasizes the primary need of a vigilant and courageous press."[337]
However, Near also noted an exception, allowing prior restraint in cases such as "publication of sailing dates of transports or the number or location of troops".[338] This exception was a key point in another landmark case four decades later: New York Times Co. v. United States (1971),[339] in which the administration of President Richard Nixon sought to ban the publication of the Pentagon Papers, classified government documents about the Vietnam War secretly copied by analyst Daniel Ellsberg. The Court found that the Nixon administration had not met the heavy burden of proof required for prior restraint. Justice Brennan, drawing on Near in a concurrent opinion, wrote that "only governmental allegation and proof that publication must inevitably, directly, and immediately cause the occurrence of an evil kindred to imperiling the safety of a transport already at sea can support even the issuance of an interim restraining order." Justices Black and Douglas went still further, writing that prior restraints were never justified.[340]
The courts have rarely treated content-based regulation of journalism with any sympathy. In Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo (1974),[341] the Court unanimously struck down a state law requiring newspapers criticizing political candidates to publish their responses. The state claimed the law had been passed to ensure journalistic responsibility. The Supreme Court found that freedom, but not responsibility, is mandated by the First Amendment and so it ruled that the government may not force newspapers to publish that which they do not desire to publish.[342]
Content-based regulation of television and radio, however, have been sustained by the Supreme Court in various cases. Since there is a limited number of frequencies for non-cable television and radio stations, the government licenses them to various companies. However, the Supreme Court has ruled that the problem of scarcity does not allow the raising of a First Amendment issue. The government may restrain broadcasters, but only on a content-neutral basis. In Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation,[343] the Supreme Court upheld the Federal Communications Commission's authority to restrict the use of "indecent" material in broadcasting.
State governments retain the right to tax newspapers, just as they may tax other commercial products. Generally, however, taxes that focus exclusively on newspapers have been found unconstitutional. In Grosjean v. American Press Co. (1936),[344] the Court invalidated a state tax on newspaper advertising revenues, holding that the role of the press in creating "informed public opinion" was vital.[345] Similarly, some taxes that give preferential treatment to the press have been struck down. In Arkansas Writers' Project v. Ragland (1987),[346] for instance, the Court invalidated an Arkansas law exempting "religious, professional, trade and sports journals" from taxation since the law amounted to the regulation of newspaper content. In Leathers v. Medlock (1991),[347] the Supreme Court found that states may treat different types of the media differently, such as by taxing cable television, but not newspapers. The Court found that "differential taxation of speakers, even members of the press, does not implicate the First Amendment unless the tax is directed at, or presents the danger of suppressing, particular ideas."[348]
In Branzburg v. Hayes (1972),[349] the Court ruled that the First Amendment did not give a journalist the right to refuse a subpoena from a grand jury. The issue decided in the case was whether a journalist could refuse to "appear and testify before state and Federal grand juries" basing the refusal on the belief that such appearance and testimony "abridges the freedom of speech and press guaranteed by the First Amendment".[350] The decision was that such a protection was not provided by the First Amendment. However, a concurring opinion by Justice Lewis F. Powell, in which he said a claim for press privilege "should be judged on its facts by the striking of a proper balance between freedom of the press and the obligation of all citizens to give relevant testimony with respect to criminal conduct. The balance of these vital constitutional and societal interests on a case-by-case basis accords with the tried and traditional way of adjudicating such questions," has been frequently cited by lower courts since the decision.[351]
The Petition Clause protects the right "to petition the government for a redress of grievances".[132] The right expanded over the years: "It is no longer confined to demands for 'a redress of grievances', in any accurate meaning of these words, but comprehends demands for an exercise by the government of its powers in furtherance of the interest and prosperity of the petitioners and of their views on politically contentious matters."[352] The right to petition the government for a redress of grievances therefore includes the right to communicate with government officials, lobbying government officials and petitioning the courts by filing lawsuits with a legal basis.[328] The Petition Clause first came to prominence in the 1830s, when Congress established the gag rule barring anti-slavery petitions from being heard; the rule was overturned by Congress several years later. Petitions against the Espionage Act of 1917 resulted in imprisonments. The Supreme Court did not rule on either issue.[352]
In California Motor Transport Co. v. Trucking Unlimited (1972),[353] the Supreme Court said the right to petition encompasses "the approach of citizens or groups of them to administrative agencies (which are both creatures of the legislature, and arms of the executive) and to courts, the third branch of Government. Certainly the right to petition extends to all departments of the Government. The right of access to the courts is indeed but one aspect of the right of petition."[354] Today, thus, this right encompasses petitions to all three branches of the federal government—the Congress, the executive and the judiciary—and has been extended to the states through incorporation.[352][355] According to the Supreme Court, "redress of grievances" is to be construed broadly: it includes not solely appeals by the public to the government for the redressing of a grievance in the traditional sense, but also, petitions on behalf of private interests seeking personal gain.[356] The right protects not only demands for "a redress of grievances" but also demands for government action.[352][356] The petition clause includes according to the Supreme Court the opportunity to institute non-frivolous lawsuits and mobilize popular support to change existing laws in a peaceful manner.[355]
In Borough of Duryea v. Guarnieri (2011),[357] the Supreme Court stated regarding the Free Speech Clause and the Petition Clause:
It is not necessary to say that the two Clauses are identical in their mandate or their purpose and effect to acknowledge that the rights of speech and petition share substantial common ground ... Both speech and petition are integral to the democratic process, although not necessarily in the same way. The right to petition allows citizens to express their ideas, hopes, and concerns to their government and their elected representatives, whereas the right to speak fosters the public exchange of ideas that is integral to deliberative democracy as well as to the whole realm of ideas and human affairs. Beyond the political sphere, both speech and petition advance personal expression, although the right to petition is generally concerned with expression directed to the government seeking redress of a grievance.[357]
The right of assembly is the individual right of people to come together and collectively express, promote, pursue, and defend their collective or shared ideas.[358] This right is equally important as those of free speech and free press, because, as observed by the Supreme Court of the United States in De Jonge v. Oregon, 299 U.S. 353, 364, 365 (1937), the right of peaceable assembly is "cognate to those of free speech and free press and is equally fundamental ... [It] is one that cannot be denied without violating those fundamental principles of liberty and justice which lie at the base of all civil and political institutions—principles which the Fourteenth Amendment embodies in the general terms of its due process clause ... The holding of meetings for peaceable political action cannot be proscribed. Those who assist in the conduct of such meetings cannot be branded as criminals on that score. The question ... is not as to the auspices under which the meeting is held but as to its purpose; not as to the relations of the speakers, but whether their utterances transcend the bounds of the freedom of speech which the Constitution protects."[352] The right of peaceable assembly was originally distinguished from the right to petition.[352] In United States v. Cruikshank (1875),[359] the first case in which the right to assembly was before the Supreme Court,[352] the court broadly declared the outlines of the right of assembly and its connection to the right of petition:
The right of the people peaceably to assemble for the purpose of petitioning Congress for a redress of grievances, or for anything else connected with the powers or duties of the National Government, is an attribute of national citizenship, and, as such, under protection of, and guaranteed by, the United States. The very idea of a government, republican in form, implies a right on the part of its citizens to meet peaceably for consultation in respect to public affairs and to petition for a redress of grievances.[360]
Justice Morrison Waite's opinion for the Court carefully distinguished the right to peaceably assemble as a secondary right, while the right to petition was labeled to be a primary right. Later cases, however, paid less attention to these distinctions.[352] An example for this is Hague v. Committee for Industrial Organization (1939), where it was decided that the freedom of assembly covered by the First Amendment applies to public forums like streets and parks.[361][352] In Hague the right of assembly was given a broad meaning, because the right of assembly can be used "for communication of views on national questions"[362] as well as for "holding meetings and disseminating information whether for the organization of labor unions or for any other lawful purpose."[363] In two 1960s decisions collectively known as forming the Noerr-Pennington doctrine,[i] the Court established that the right to petition prohibited the application of antitrust law to statements made by private entities before public bodies: a monopolist may freely go before the city council and encourage the denial of its competitor's building permit without being subject to Sherman Act liability.[364]
Although the First Amendment does not explicitly mention freedom of association, the Supreme Court ruled, in NAACP v. Alabama (1958),[365][366] that this freedom was protected by the amendment and that privacy of membership was an essential part of this freedom.[367] In Roberts v. United States Jaycees (1984), the Court stated that "implicit in the right to engage in activities protected by the First Amendment" is "a corresponding right to associate with others in pursuit of a wide variety of political, social, economic, educational, religious, and cultural ends".[368] In Roberts the Court held that associations may not exclude people for reasons unrelated to the group's expression, such as gender.[369]
However, in Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Group of Boston (1995),[370] the Court ruled that a group may exclude people from membership if their presence would affect the group's ability to advocate a particular point of view.[371] Likewise, in Boy Scouts of America v. Dale (2000),[372] the Court ruled that a New Jersey law, which forced the Boy Scouts of America to admit an openly gay member, to be an unconstitutional abridgment of the Boy Scouts' right to free association.[373]
In Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta (2021), the Court ruled that California's requiring disclosure of the identities of nonprofit companies' big-money donors did not serve a narrowly tailored government interest and, thus, violated those donors' First Amendment rights.[374]
Today, the religious roots of the American order and the role of religion in its continued success are poorly understood. One source of the confusion is the phrase "separation of church and state," a phrase used by President Thomas Jefferson in a widely misunderstood letter to the Danbury Baptist Association of Connecticut in 1802. Many think this means a radical separation of religion and politics. Some have gone so far as to suggest that religion should be entirely personal and private, kept out of public life and institutions like public schools. That is incorrect: Jefferson wanted to protect states' freedom of religion from federal government control and religious groups' freedom to tend to their internal matters of faith and practice without government interference generally. Unfortunately, Jefferson's phrase is probably more widely known than the actual text of the Constitution's First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
Accommodationists, on the other hand, read the establishment clause as prohibiting Congress from declaring a national religion or preferring one to another, but laws do not have to be shorn of morality and history to be declared constitutional. They apply Lemon only selectively because '[w]e are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being' as Justice Douglas wrote in Zorach v. Clauson 343 U.S. 306 (1952).
First Amendment Politics: At the risk of oversimplifying a very complicated situation, I suggest that conservative justices tend to favor a weak reading of both the Free Exercise and Establishment clause, while liberals tend to favor strong readings. That is, conservative justices have been less concerned about the dangers of establishment and less concerned to protect free exercise rights, particularly of religious minorities. Liberals, by contrast, have been opposed to any possibility of a religious establishment and they have been relatively more concerned to protect the free exercise rights of minorities.
Conservatives claim that liberals misinterpret the establishment and free exercise clauses of the First Amendment. They point to the opinion written for the Supreme Court by Hugo Black in Everson v. Board of Education: "The 'establishment of religion' clause of the First Amendment means at least this: neither a state nor a Federal government can set up a church. Neither can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions or prefer one religion over another." The establishment clause, conservatives insist, precludes the national state from promoting any religious denomination but does not prohibit state governments and local communities from developing policies that encourage general religious beliefs that do not favor a particular sect and are consistent with the secular government's goals.
The free exercise of religion means, first and foremost, the right to believe and profess whatever religious doctrine one desires. Thus, the First Amendment obviously excludes all "governmental regulation of religious beliefs as such." Sherbert v. Verner supra, 374 U.S. at 374 U. S. 402. The government may not compel affirmation of religious belief, see Torcaso v. Watkins, 367 U. S. 488 (1961), punish the expression of religious doctrines it believes to be false, United States v. Ballard, 322 U. S. 78, 322 U. S. 86–88 (1944), impose special disabilities on the basis of religious views or religious status, see McDaniel v. Paty, 435 U. S. 618 (1978); Fowler v. Rhode Island, 345 U. S. 67, 345 U. S. 69 (1953); cf. Larson v. Valente, 456 U. S. 228, 456 U. S. 245 (1982), or lend its power to one or the other side in controversies over religious authority or dogma, see Presbyterian Church v. Hull Church, 393 U. S. 440, 393 U. S. 445–452 (1969); Kedroff v. St. Nicholas Cathedral, 344 U. S. 94, 344 U. S. 95–119 (1952); Serbian Eastern Orthodox Diocese v. Milivojevich, 426 U. S. 696, 426 U. S. 708–725 (1976).
In McDaniel v. Paty, 435 U. S. 618 (1978), for example, we invalidated a state law that disqualified members of the clergy from holding certain public offices, because it "impose[d] special disabilities on the basis of ... religious status," Employment Div., Dept. of Human Resources of Ore. v. Smith, 494 U. S., at 877. ... The Free Exercise Clause "protect[s] religious observers against unequal treatment," Hobbie v. Unemployment Appeals Comm'n of Fla., 480 U. S. 136, 148 (1987) (STEVENS, J., concurring in judgment), and inequality results when a legislature decides that the governmental interests it seeks to advance are worthy of being pursued only against conduct with a religious motivation.
It is important to note that the First Amendment applies to many expressions, including verbal and non-verbal communication, written communication, sign language, body language, facial expressions, gestures, symbols, and images. This means that the First Amendment protects not just what we say but also how we express ourselves.
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