Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

If You Feel Like Your First Amendment Rights Are Being Trampled On, This Could Be Why(poll results)
RedState ^ | September 12, 2017 | Jon Street

Posted on 09/13/2017 5:54:36 AM PDT by sickoflibs

If you feel like your First Amendment rights as an American are being trampled on, it might be because a staggering number of people don’t know what they are.

According to a recent survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, a mind-boggling 37 percent of respondents either didn’t know or couldn’t name any of the five First Amendment rights guaranteed to all Americans by the Constitution: speech, religion, press, assembly and petition.

The survey was conducted August 9-13 among a group of 1,013 U.S. adults who were 18 years old and older. Respondents were from all 50 states and 39 participants took the survey in Spanish.

While 37 percent of respondents were not able to name any First Amendment rights, a handful were at least able to list some.

Fourteen percent, for example, correctly named freedom of the press as one of the First Amendment rights. Fifteen percent named freedom of religion, ten percent listed the right to peaceably assemble, and three percent identified the right to petition the government. Freedom of speech was the most widely identified Constitutional right, with nearly half (48 percent) of respondents being able to name it.

Meanwhile, five percent of respondents thought the Second Amendment was actually part of the First Amendment. That’s how many participants wrongly claimed that the right to bear arms was a right guaranteed by the First Amendment. Another two percent of survey respondents said that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, a phrase referenced in the Declaration of Independence, was a First Amendment right.

So when it comes to people claiming that their First Amendment rights are being violated, whether it be Berkeley silencing conservatives, or Christian business owners being told who they have to serve, there’s a decent chance that’s happening because the people violating their rights don’t realize what they’re doing.


TOPICS: Education; Government; Politics
KEYWORDS: billofrights; citizenignorance; citizensrights; civics; constitution; firstamendment; poll; publiceducation
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-22 next last
The lib MSM keeps telling them the First Amendment protects themselves (the MSM ) from being counter criticized. Even McCain agreed with them on that.
1 posted on 09/13/2017 5:54:36 AM PDT by sickoflibs
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: sickoflibs

OK. And your solution is.


2 posted on 09/13/2017 5:55:22 AM PDT by Rapscallion (Soros still hates America. Convict him and imprison him.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Rapscallion

RE:”OK. And your solution is.”

Voters should be required to have some basic knowledge to be able to vote.

Are those getting US citizenship even required to know anything about the constitution?


3 posted on 09/13/2017 6:03:58 AM PDT by sickoflibs (Message to Trump : I am not tired of winning yet. Please more winning ! Get your crap together fast!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Rapscallion

No-one should graduate high school without passing a “Constitution Course.” I had to take such a course in college and it was eye opening. Previously, the only amendments I was familiar with were the 1st and 5th.


4 posted on 09/13/2017 6:04:20 AM PDT by Prolixus (Drain the swamp!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: metmom

Ping.


5 posted on 09/13/2017 6:05:08 AM PDT by upchuck (I speak my mind because it hurts to keep biting my tongue all the time.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: sickoflibs

I am less concerned about a citizen who doesn’t know all of the First Amendment rights and far more concerned about liberals who are aware of those rights and are actively working to subvert them.


6 posted on 09/13/2017 6:05:31 AM PDT by dirtboy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Prolixus

Let me make sure I understand.

You want people to read a document written by dead white slave-holders?

:-)


7 posted on 09/13/2017 6:07:01 AM PDT by cgbg (Hidden behind the social justice warrior mask is corruption and sexual deviance.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: sickoflibs

This is heartbreaking.

Caused by of combination of socialistic schooling and poor parenting.

Any other causes?


8 posted on 09/13/2017 6:07:08 AM PDT by upchuck (I speak my mind because it hurts to keep biting my tongue all the time.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Prolixus
No-one should graduate high school without passing a “Constitution Course.”

Hillsdale's Constitution Course

9 posted on 09/13/2017 6:07:21 AM PDT by ShadowAce (Linux - The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: sickoflibs

How many people know what is in the third amendment?


10 posted on 09/13/2017 6:12:00 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: sickoflibs
Another two percent of survey respondents said that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, a phrase referenced in the Declaration of Independence, was a First Amendment right.

At least the "Blessings of Liberty" are mentioned in the Preamble.

11 posted on 09/13/2017 6:18:38 AM PDT by Political Junkie Too (The 1st Amendment gives the People the right to a free press, not CNN the right to the 1st question.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: central_va
Or mention fairly recent (as in the past 50 years) Supreme Court cases mentioning the third amendment?

-PJ

12 posted on 09/13/2017 6:19:49 AM PDT by Political Junkie Too (The 1st Amendment gives the People the right to a free press, not CNN the right to the 1st question.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: central_va
RE:”How many people know what is in the third amendment?”

???

QUARTERING OF SOLDIERS ???

13 posted on 09/13/2017 6:23:56 AM PDT by sickoflibs (Message to Trump : I am not tired of winning yet. Please more winning ! Get your crap together fast!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: ShadowAce
A sign of the times: I assume any college currently offering a Constitution course is likely to show up on an SPLC watch list (ctrl f and search for Hillsdale).
14 posted on 09/13/2017 6:24:15 AM PDT by Prolixus (Drain the swamp!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: sickoflibs

I think a much larger problem is the number of people who are confused about the difference between Freedom of Speech (an innate God-given right) with 1st Ammendement (a restriction preventing the government from interfering with Free Speech).


15 posted on 09/13/2017 6:30:57 AM PDT by TennesseeProfessor
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: sickoflibs; central_va

How many people wonder whether or not the 3rd Amendment has been used to argue against U.S. Citizens being forced to accommodate people who, in turn, are being used to displace U.S. Citizens? And, if it hasn’t thusly been used, why hasn’t it?


16 posted on 09/13/2017 6:32:02 AM PDT by Prolixus (Drain the swamp!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Prolixus
RE:”How many people wonder whether or not the 3rd Amendment has been used to argue against U.S. Citizens being forced to accommodate people who, in turn, are being used to displace U.S. Citizens? And, if it hasn’t thusly been used, why hasn’t it?”

Probably because we don't fight wars on US territory.
If we owned property in Afghanistan it might apply, but who would want to own a home there?

I found this :
“The Third Amendment seems to have no direct constitutional relevance at present; indeed, not only is it the least litigated amendment in the Bill of Rights, but the Supreme Court has never decided a case on the basis of it.

The federal government today is not likely to ask people to house soldiers in their homes, even in time of war. Nevertheless, the amendment has some modern implications. It suggests the individual’s right of domestic privacy—that people are protected from governmental intrusion into their homes; and it is the only part of the Constitution that deals directly with the relationship between the rights of individuals and the military in both peace and war—rights that emphasize the importance of civilian control over the armed forces. Some legal scholars have even begun to argue that the amendment might be applied to the government’s response to terror attacks and natural disasters, and to issues involving eminent domain and the militarization of the police.”

constitutioncenter.org constitution amendments:amendment-iii

17 posted on 09/13/2017 8:03:06 AM PDT by sickoflibs (Message to Trump : I am not tired of winning yet. Please more winning ! Get your crap together fast!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: TennesseeProfessor
RE:”I think a much larger problem is the number of people who are confused about the difference between Freedom of Speech (an innate God-given right) with 1st Ammendement (a restriction preventing the government from interfering with Free Speech).”

That may be why the group you ARE concerned about can convince the group that you are not to their way of thinking.

18 posted on 09/13/2017 8:12:52 AM PDT by sickoflibs (Message to Trump : I am not tired of winning yet. Please more winning ! Get your crap together fast!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: sickoflibs

Gee, do you think if our public schools still taught TRUTHFUL US History and the Constitution that it just might help to maintain our freedom and liberty?


19 posted on 09/13/2017 8:52:37 AM PDT by drypowder
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Prolixus

When I went to high school, a citizenship and an economics course (one semester each) was required to graduate. I hate to think of what the required content would be today.


20 posted on 09/13/2017 10:19:41 AM PDT by JimSEA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-22 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson