First Amendment

The Libertarian Angle: Charlie Hebdo

by Future of Freedom Foundation January 12, 2015

Each week, FFF president Jacob Hornberger and FFF vice president Sheldon Richman discuss the hot topics of the day. This week: the attacks in France on the offices of Charlie Hebdo. The Libertarian Angle airs weekly. Go to the podcast.

TGIF: In Memory of the Charlie Hebdo Victims

by Sheldon Richman January 9, 2015

Words can hardly convey the grief and disgust felt at Wednesday’s executions of the editor, cartoonists, and others — 10 people in all — at France’s satirical weekly magazine, Charlie Hebdo. Two policemen also were killed, and 11 other people were wounded by the three fanatics who reportedly declared they were avenging the prophet Muhammad, founder of Islam. Nothing can justify ...

Freedom Lost in Obama’s Secrecy-Censorship Crossfire

by James Bovard September 1, 2014

On June 2 the Supreme Court provided invaluable aid to the Obama administration’s campaign to protect Americans from evidence of federal abuses. The Court acceded to the administration’s appeal and refused to hear a free-speech case involving New York Times reporter James Risen. Risen, a courageous Pulitzer Prize winner, has been in the federal crosshairs since his 2006 book, ...

The VA’s Unprecedented Attack on Whistleblowers

by Wendy McElroy June 19, 2014

The scandal over the wretched conditions and wait times at veteran’s hospitals as well as the falsification of records by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has the White House in full-scramble defense mode. President Obama risks losing the support of veterans, military personnel, and their families. A new report on the VA from early June this year depicts a ...

Pornography and the First Amendment

by Laurence M. Vance December 20, 2013

Would the freedom of speech exist without the First Amendment? How about the freedom of the press? What about the right of the people to peaceably assemble or petition the government for a redress of grievances? Is it the First Amendment alone that prevents the federal government from making laws respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free ...

Freedom of Speech: Abridge to Nowhere

by Michael Tennant November 1, 2013

Americans, known for their outspokenness on matters of politics, sports, American Idol contestants, and practically every other topic, would appear to treasure few things more highly than their freedom of speech. Why, it’s even right there in the Constitution: “Congress shall make no law  ... abridging the freedom of speech.” In America, everyone is allowed to speak his mind ...

Religious Discrimination

by Laurence M. Vance February 13, 2013

Do churches and other religious organizations have the right to discriminate? Even advocates of discrimination laws in general are usually willing to make an exception for churches and religious organizations to practice discrimination in employment based on religious creed, sex, marital status, or sexual orientation. Thus, a church of a particular denomination is free to limit offers of employment to ...

God versus Government

by Wendy McElroy December 4, 2012

Freedom of religion is the most powerful constitutional protection left in America. It is on a collision course with the contraception mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). The mandate requires employers with more than 50 workers to provide health plans that include contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs. Many employers object to paying for practices prohibited by their ...

Citizens United and the First Amendment

by Laurence M. Vance August 1, 2012

As we move closer to another presidential election, the Supreme Court case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission will be brought up with increasing frequency. Decided by a vote of 5-4 on January 21, 2010, it was one of the most polarizing Supreme Court decisions of the Roberts Court. Justice Stephen Breyer, who joined fellow justices John Paul Stevens, ...

Your Religion or Your Business

by Wendy McElroy July 31, 2012

On July 27, an American court for the first time offered a tentative ruling on whether Obamacare outranks the religious rights of business owners. At issue is the Obamacare provision that requires companies with more than 50 employees to provide insurance coverage that includes contraceptives, abortion-related drugs, and sterilization. These services would be provided without cost-sharing: that ...