Best First Amendment Quotes | Short & Famous Sayings Page 8

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

“Our 1 million members across the country will be watching closely to see if the video game industry hides behind a First Amendment veil in order to exploit children for the sake of corporate profit.”

Ifs Firsts Children Country Order Games Behinds Millions Industry Members Sake Profit Video Corporate Amendments Veils Exploits First Amendment

Author:Connie Sellecca

“Banning guns because of their misuse is like banning the First Amendment because one might libel or slander.”

Firsts Might Gun Amendments First Amendment Slander Misuse Libel

Author:Ron Paul

“Where's Barack Obama when Christmas references are being erased from civic calendars? Is he crying out in defense of religious liberty and our First Amendment? Nope. He's as silent as a church mouse. And animosity toward religion continues to grow.”

Firsts Grows Church Religious Liberty Cry Silent Defense Barack Amendments Mice First Amendment Civics Calendars Animosity Religious Liberty

Author:Chuck Norris

“I begin to feel like most Americans don't understand the First Amendment, don't understand the idea of freedom of speech, and don't understand that it's the responsibility of the citizen to speak out.”

Feels Firsts Ideas Speak Responsibility Citizens Speech Amendments Freedom Of Speech First Amendment Speaks Out Limiting Freedom Of Expression

Author:Roger Ebert

“The right really dominates radio, and it's amazing how much energy the right spends telling us that the press is slanted to the left when it really isn't. They want to shut other people up. They really don't understand the First Amendment.”

People Want Firsts Energy Left Presses Radio Amendments First Amendment

Author:Roger Ebert

“The First Amendment has the same role in my life as a citizen and a writer as the sun has in our ecosystem.”

Firsts House Roles Sun Citizens Amendments First Amendment Ecosystems

Author:Michael Chabon

“The First Amendment serves not only the needs of the polity but also those of the human spirit - a spirit that demands self-expression .”

Needs Firsts Humans Self Spirit Expression Demand Amendments Human Spirit First Amendment Self Expression

Author:Thurgood Marshall

“Nothing's riding on this, except the First Amendment to the Constitution, freedom of the press and maybe the future of the country. Not that any of that matters, but if you guys f-k up again, I'm gonna get mad.”

Ifs Firsts Country Matter Guy Constitution Mad Presses Journalism Amendments Riding First Amendment Freedom Of The Press

Author:Ben Bradlee

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

“The dominant purpose of the First Amendment was to prohibit the widespread practice of government suppression of embarrassing information.”

Firsts Government Purpose Practice Information Amendments Freedom Of Speech Dominant Embarrassing First Amendment Suppression

Author:William O. Douglas

“But our society - unlike most in the world - presupposes that freedom and liberty are in a frame of reference that makes the individual, not government, the keeper of his tastes, beliefs, and ideas. That is the philosophy of the First Amendment; and it is this article of faith that sets us apart from most nations in the world.”

World Firsts Ideas Philosophy Government Individual Belief Nations Liberty Taste Our Society Articles Amendments First Amendment Freedom And Liberty Keepers Frame Of Reference

Author:William O. Douglas

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

Firsts May Government Religious Theory Aids Amendments Hostile First Amendment Mandates Advocacy Neutrality

Author:Abe Fortas

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

Firsts Doe Government Cases Particular Evidence Crosses Factors Burning Permit Amendments Provision First Amendment Intimidating Shortcuts

Author:Sandra Day O'Connor

“The basis of the First Amendment is the hypothesis that speech can rebut speech, propaganda will answer propaganda, free debate of ideas will result in the wisest governmental policies.”

Firsts Ideas Government Answers Results Policy Speech Bases Debate Propaganda Amendments Hypothesis First Amendment Wisest

Author:Fred M. Vinson

“As to the media, they are protected by the First Amendment, as they should be.”

Should Firsts Media Amendments Protected First Amendment

Author:L. Neil Smith

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

Ifs Want Firsts Believe Stories Would Be Asks Answers Society Tomorrow Constitution Average What If Amendments Polls If You Believe First Amendment

Author:Frank Zappa

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

Ifs Should Firsts Might America Lost Streets Consequence Wave Telling The Truth Boss Amendments First Amendment Default Main Street

Author:Richard S. Salant

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

Firsts Said Privilege Ridiculous Civil Rights Amendments First Amendment Ridiculous Things

Author:John Kenneth Galbraith

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

Ifs Firsts Country Government Form Political Father Influence Constitution Graves Our Country Amendments Founding Arena First Amendment Disservice

Book:Red Sky in the Morning

Source: Red Sky in the Morning

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

Firsts Believe Made Government Wanted I Believe Common Consciousness Clear Constitution Amendments First Amendment Erase Framers New Government Endorsing

Author:Nick Rahall

“The First Amendment is not without limits.”

Firsts Limits Amendments First Amendment Fourth Amendment

Author:Jerry Falwell

“The first amendment protects free speech, but if you don't have freedom of thought, do you really have freedom of speech?”

Ifs Firsts Protect Speech Amendments Free Speech Freedom Of Speech First Amendment Freedom Of Thought

Author:Rob Kampia

“A funny thing happened to the First Amendment on its way to the public forum. According to the Supreme Court, money is now speech and corporations are now people. But when real people without money assemble to express their dissatisfaction with the political consequences of this, they’re treated as public nuisances and evicted.”

“Leftists would like to pretend that any criticism of their views raises the specter of domestic repression. But in a country with a First Amendment, no suppression from government is likely, and in the citadels of the media and the academy, the far left is actually vastly overrepresented.”

Firsts Country Government Politics Left Views Media Criticism Raises Amendments First Amendment Academy Repression Suppression Leftists Citadels

Author:Andrew Sullivan

“Free Speech in the College Community is a very timely book written by a dedicated scholar of the First Amendment. Challenging and readable it should be studied by all academicians, students, legislators and lawyers.”

Should Firsts Book Community Challenges Written Students College Speech Lawyer Dedicated Scholar Amendments Free Speech First Amendment Legislators Timely

Author:Nancy Kassebaum

“Any test that turns on what is offensive to the community's standards is too loose, too capricious, too destructive of freedom of expression to be squared with the First Amendment. Under that test, juries can censor, suppress, and punish what they don't like, provided the matter relates to "sexual impurity" or has a tendency "to excite lustful thoughts." This is community censorship in one of its worst forms. It creates a regime where, in the battle between the literati and the Philistines, the Philistines are certain to win.”

“The purpose of the University of Washington cannot be to produce black lawyers for blacks, Polish lawyers for Poles, Jewish lawyers for Jews, Irish lawyers for Irish. It should be to produce good lawyers for Americans, and not to place First Amendment barriers against anyone.”

Should Firsts Purpose Black Produce University Jew Lawyer Barriers Amendments Polish First Amendment Good Lawyer

Author:William O. Douglas

“The first exception [to the First Amendment] will not be the last.”

Firsts States Lasts Church Exception Amendments First Amendment

Author:Ira Glasser

“But it's hard to talk about art. Maybe there should be a law against it, some First Amendment gag order like crying fire in a crowded theater.”

Should Firsts Art Hard Law Order Fire Cry Theater Amendments First Amendment Crowded Gags

Author:Stanley Elkin

“Laws protecting the United States flag do not cut away at the freedom of speech guaranteed in the First Amendment... Congress made this position clear upon passage of the Flag Protection Act of 1989, which prohibited desecration of the flag.”

Firsts Made States Law United United States Clear Cutting Position Speech Congress Protection Passages Flags Amendments Freedom Of Speech First Amendment Limiting Freedom Of Expression

Author:Larry Craig

“If you're not going to offend somebody you don't need the First Amendment.”

Ifs Needs Firsts Amendments First Amendment

Author:Larry Flynt

“Privacy is not explicitly spelled out in the Constitution as freedom of speech is in the First Amendment.”

Firsts Speech Constitution Privacy Amendments Freedom Of Speech First Amendment

Author:Larry Flynt

“The notion that the First Amendment has no limitations whatsoever is balderdash.”

Firsts Notion Limitation Amendments First Amendment

Author:Trey Gowdy

“The First Amendment...begins with the five loveliest words in the English language: 'Congress shall make no law'.”

Firsts Law Language Five Constitution Congress Amendments English Language First Amendment

Author:George Will

“The courts are using the First Amendment to attack religion, when they should be using it to protect religion.”

Should Firsts Protect Court Amendments First Amendment

Author:Ernest Istook

“The US constitution's First Amendment rights only cover Americans, but I believe that in a democracy the competition of ideas and free speech should combat beliefs that it does not agree with - more speech and debate, not censorship.”

First Amendment Quotes

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First Amendment Quotes