How Do First Amendment Rights Work?

   January 12, 2025

The US Constituion was written in the late 1780s and was likely based on a collection of common law rights in addition to demands from religious prosecutors in Europe. To put things in context, the Declaration of Independence was a statement of rights, it was not a gentle question asking for permission. An important detail is that there was a majority consent to the Declaration, inhabiting of the new land by foreigners, and an agreement that the US Constitution would establish a new country with the consent of international governments under European, Middle Eastern, and Mediterranean rule.

This means the locals allowed people to live in the Americas that were foreigners, and the governments East of the Atlantic Ocean consented to formation of a new country with its borders on the West Side of the Atlantic Banks. The people that migrated to the Americas as a majority, decided their country or place of inhabitance would not restrict religious freedoms nor would it be governed by religious institutions.

  • Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.
    • Congress shall not create religious policies within an religious institution.
    • Congress shall not create laws under the coercement of a religious institution.
  • Congress shall not prohibit the free exercise of religious beliefs.
  • Congress shall not prohibit the right of the people to peacefully assemble.
  • Congress shall allow for the people to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Legislators, Parlimentarians, Monarchs, Ministers, and Magistrates, Scholars, Philosophers were very articulate and concise with their words if at times they lacked eloquence.

These parts of the the first amendment go together and they allow or outline the following rights:

  • Right to practice any religion or to practice no religion at all.
  • Right to use government based voting processes that are not religiously biased.
  • Right to form congregations and to meet in public places for religious purposes.
  • Right to file lawsuit against a religious institution for violating established law.
  • Right to request the government take action against a religious institution for violating established law.

The context of when these laws were written adds details to how the laws are promulgated, prioritized, or how the hierachy of laws works within a set of potentially conflicting laws or legislation.

An important detail, often called a caveat, is that free exercise of religion or rightful expression of non-participation can not infringe on the rights of others or violate established law.

Examples of when the first amendment may come into question in a civil court house include the following situations:

  • Proselytizer and Minister engaged in Psychological Assault and Harassment.
  • Evangelist Found Guilty of Stalking and Harassing Desired Converts.
  • Excommunicated Religious Member Found Trespassing on Religious Institution.
  • Religious Administrators Held in Court for Financial Privacy Violations.

Established law applies equally to all people within their category of citizen, resident, inhabitant, or visitor.

  • Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech.
  • Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of the press.
  • Congress shall make no law prohibiting the right of the people to peacefully assemble.

These laws have a dual significance:

Religious Significance

  • The people shall be allowed to gather peacefully and discuss what they have heard within a religious institution to decide if it is something they agree they want to follow or implement within their lives.
  • The people shall have a right to publish opinions regarding things they have heard within a religious institution without violating any rights of copy, performance, or editorial that belongs to the religious institutions that they obtained the thought philosophies from.
  • The people shall be allowed to gather within different public venues to verify that there is no coercement or lack of understanding in discussing and deciding which decision they shall make.

Secular Significance
secular often means non-religious or without religious bias, it is thought to have originated from secondary as religion was displaced as the majority desired form of government. For example, secondary university scholar or secular. Eventually, the secondary thought philosophy became the primary form of governance nearly globally and the word secular was removed from popular usage.

  • People shall have the right to gather peacefully for any law abiding purpose.
  • People shall have the right of publication and circulation, in addition to copy and editorial rights in the content of their publications, for any topic they can intelligently think about.
  • People shall have the right to talk about and discuss various topics, subjects, ideas, and controversies over any communications available within the context of law.

With the secular significance, the goal was to establish certain rights:

  • The right to be informed about voting matters or contexts.
  • The right to impart information, if so desired, via established communication methods.
  • The right to have financial, intellectual, cultural, and property rights respected in imparted information.
  • The right to gather and discuss topics and subjects without the need of electronic means.

The secular significance can get broad with conversations on freedoms of the press and right to publication.

For example

  • Freedom of Speech vs Slander, Libel, and Defamation.
  • Right of the Press vs Corporate Copyright Theft.
  • Open Source Movement vs Labor Camp Victims Coalition Fund.

There is not much more to the first amendement. Redress of Grievances by the Government can fall under one of two categories:

  • Civil Lawsuit by the Government, often by a State or US Attorney.
  • Authorization for Civil Action Groups agains the Oppresor.
    • This can mean the National Guard is authorized to take action on behalf of the people.

Commentary or annotations to the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights can be found constitution.congress.gov/browse/ or archives.gov/founding-docs/ under US Constitution or Bill of Rights.

Initially, there are some minimal or limited notes on the transcripts on archive.gov and the commentary is now found under learn more. Archives.gov is the US National Archives comparable to the Library of Congress or Pacer. Archive.org is a non profit digital library now considered an NGO in many parts of the world.