Instructions

You will read the articles provided and will create an outline for an informational article based on the prompt.

Important: You will not write an essay. You are creating an outline for an informational essay.

Step 1: Read the prompt.

Based on the articles provided below, how has the right of free speech developed and evolved?

Step 2: Read the following four articles to gather information for your outline.

First Amendment to the United States Constitution

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging thefreedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for redress of grievances."

First Amendment, U.S. Constitution

http://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/get-involved/constitution-activities/first-amendment.aspx

First Amendment History

During the debates on the adoption of the Constitution, its opponents repeatedly charged that the Constitution as drafted would open the way to tyranny by the central government. Fresh in their minds was the memory of the British violation of civil rights before and during the Revolution. They demanded a "bill of rights" that would spell out the rights of individual citizens.

On September 25, 1789, the First Congress of the United States proposed to the state legislatures the first 10 amendments of the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights.

The First Amendment constitutes the five pillars of freedomfreedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition, and are considered the foundation of the Constitution.

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights.html

Landmark Court Case Pertaining to the First Amendment:Tinker v. Des Moines(1969)

Case details:To protest the Vietnam War, Mary Beth Tinker and her brother wore black armbands to school. Fearing a disruption, the administration prohibited wearing such armbands. The Tinkers were removed from school when they failed to comply. The students returned to school without the armbands, but wore black clothes for the rest of the school year, in protest. They took their case to the Supreme Court and won. The Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment applied to students in public schools, and school officials could not block student speech unless it disrupted the educational process. Since wearing a black armband was not disruptive, the Court held that the First Amendment protected the right of students to wear one.

Supreme Court Holding:Students do not leave their rights at the schoolhouse door.

http://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/get-informed/supreme-court/landmark-supreme-court-cases-about-students.aspx

Current Court Case Pertaining to the First Amendment:Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe(2000)

Case details:Before football games, members of the student body of a Texas high school elected one of their classmates to address the players and spectators. These addresses were conducted over the school's loudspeakers and usually involved a prayer. Attendance at these events was voluntary. Three students sued the school arguing that the prayers violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. A majority of the Court rejected the school's argument that since the prayer was student initiated and student led, as opposed to officially sponsored by the school, it did not violate the First Amendment. The Court held that this action did constitute school-sponsored prayer because the loudspeakers that the students used for their invocations were owned by the school.

Supreme Court Holding:Students may not use a school's loudspeaker system to offer student-led, student-initiated prayer.

http://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/get-informed/supreme-court/landmark-supreme-court-cases-about-students.aspx

Step 3: Write an outline for an informational article based on the prompt, in the space below.

Information in your outline:

• the history and importance of free speech and the First Amendment
• importance of a landmark court case that pertains to the First Amendment
• importance of a contemporary court case that pertains to the First Amendment
• conclusion that expresses the present-day effect of free speech and the First Amendment
• include citing information

• Format of your outline:use the Roman numbering system to outline your ideas
• include five sections: introduction, three body paragraphs, conclusion