Press



**Amendment 1: Religious Freedom and Press**
 * “**//Congress shall make no law respecting an establish of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances”//

By: Josh, Jared and Nick

__**Breakdown and Meaning in Society**__

Freedom of press is one of the Five Freedoms of the First Amendment. In the First Amendment it says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establish of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, __**or of the press.”**__ Therefore you have the right to say anything you want in a newspaper article, magazine, letter, ect. This is important because people always want their voice to be heard and feel like they have a say.



__**Court Case**__

Court is now in order… On March 27, 1968 Marvin Pickering, a high school teacher went to court about his freedom of the press being taken away. He complained and wrote to the editor of a newspaper to criticize a schools board separation of schools funds on academics and athletics. The board fired the teacher and said that the letter contained false information that challenged the schools system. He sued with the reason that the board was taking away his rights. On June 3, 1968 the court voted in favor of the teacher 8-1. This is a great example of freedom of press in the government, if it would have not been for this freedom Marvin Pickering would have been fired and he could have not voiced his opinion.


 * __Real World Connection__**

We think this amendment is important because we have the freedom to write down our opinions and not feel that we will get in trouble or break the law. If you strongly apose an idea or action in any circumstance, even dealing with the government, you have the full right to give your personal opinion. Imagine if we lived in a country ruled by a dictorship such as Iraq was in past years, every person who has spoken bad about our government (almost 150 million) would be executed. The First Amendment in the Bill of Rights sets a standard list of freedoms fullfilling the promise of the United States Government. As a citizen I feel that this Amendment, Freedom of the Press, is very much used in my life Happiness in our country is sealed with this Amendment.



__**Resources**__

Huson, David. "Teacher looks back on letter that led to firing — and Supreme Court victory." __First Amendment__. 20 July 2001. Freedom Forum. 28 Nov 2007 .

Irving, Brant. "United States Bill of Rights." 23 Nov 2007. Wikipedia. 29 Nov 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Bill_of_Rights.

McCloskey, Molly. "Pickering v. Board of Education." __First Amendment Schools__. 29 Nov 2007. First Amendment Center. 29 Nov 2007 ."Chronicle of the Revolution." Liberty! The American Revolution. 2004. Nettrekker. 29 Nov 2007 .

"Chronicle of the Revolution." __Liberty! The American Revolution__. 2004. Nettrekker. 29 Nov 2007 .

Cassie, Freckles. "Freedom of the Press." __Political Teen Tidbits__. 14 June 2007. 30 Nov 2007 http://frecklescassie.wordpress.com/category/rudy-giuliani/