the 1st Amendment

Constitution of the United States, via Populist America et al ^ | The Framers

[SunkenCiv]

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.

[SunkenCiv]

Populist America's commentary:

The opinions of men are not the object of civil government, nor under its jurisdiction. -- Thomas Jefferson

The First Amendment was written in large part because colonists had, for so long, been unable to complain freely about the British government. The framers felt that, if free speech were unabridged, the people could always raise enough ruckus that necessary course corrections could be made by the government. Additionally, freedom of the press was specifically mentioned because the Founding Fathers believed, if all else failed, the press would keep an eye on things of and by the government, and inform the people accordingly. In fact, the founders relied so heavily upon this notion that the press is sometimes referred to as "The Fourth Estate", an unofficial nod to their collective equality of importance with the three actual branches of government. The assembly clause of the First Amendment not only provides for assembly but has also been interpreted in the courts to mean freedom of association as well.

[SunkenCiv]

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[bigheadfred]

Go ahead, freely associate...

[Republic_of_Secession.]

The only problem is of course that the press does not always live up to its expectation of keeping an eye on the government nor of informing the people - well at least not the mainstream press.

[Fractal Trader]

Here’s my proposed amendment:

Congress shall make no law regarding the provisioning of energy.

We seem to come up with the worst possible energy futures when we let the federal government tell us what to do.

[HighlyOpinionated]

Can’t this be used to defend the CO2 that emanates from speech?

[YOUGOTIT]

to petition the Government for a redress of grievances

I have petitioned the Government through my elected representatives several times and have never received one return answer from them. So I guess one has to have lots of money to sue in court. But one cannot sue the Government unless you are an anti human environmentalist.