First Amendment

The First Amendment is, as its name suggests, the first of currently twenty-seven amendments to the United States Constitution. It guarantees many of our most cherished freedoms, including the freedoms of speech, press, religion, assembly, and the right to petition. The First Amendment provides: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment 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.” The First Amendment has long been celebrated as “the guardian of our democracy.” Brown v. Hartlage, 456 U.S. 45, 60 (1982).