First Amendment Protections in the Age of Terrorism
Abstract
In the early twentieth century, the United States Supreme Court made its first modern-era rulings determining what speech was protected by constitutional guarantee under the first amendment. The decisions in Schenck vs. United States, Minersville School District v. Gobitis, West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, Chaplinsky vs. New Hampshire, The United States Supreme Court dictated a narrow set of terms defining proscribed or restricted speech and expression. Toward the mid twentieth century in Brandenburg vs. Ohio, a further narrowing of proscribed speech occurred although no consensus or clear decision was reached on religious speech protections. The result of no clear rulings on religious speech became apparent in the outcomes of two early twenty-first century cases: Holder vs. Humanitarian Law Project and United States vs. Mehanna. The United States government was able to deny American citizens fundamental first amendment rights and prosecute them for their religious interpretations using a loose thread linking their thoughts and words to terrorist activities.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 04, 2015
- Accession Number
- AD1175973
Entities
People
- David Mcgraw
Organizations
- Marine Corps University