Why We Have the First Amendment

The First Amendment is arguably the most important addition to the Bill of Rights as it set the United States apart from the rest of the world's governments at the time. It gave its citizens freedoms from being tied to religions, petitioning the government, to publish their thoughts without censorship, and most importantly, freedom of speech. Freedom of speech allows for the expression of most any ideas people may have, without fear of punishment or censorship from the government. While there is speech that is frowned upon by our society it is just as necessary as acceptable speech and should be protected equally.

A country that allows all speech to be heard it allows for society to grow and learn from its mistakes and what is and isn't socially acceptable, the First Amendment is very key in "Promoting Tolerance" with this. This is a very difficult concept for many to understand in today's society, especially on social media. We see celebrities being canceled by society for what they have said in the past that are not acceptable in today's standards of speech and things they have said today that are not looked on with a positive light. Cancel culture is a very extreme way of trying to teach society what is acceptable, but in its basic format it's exactly how society should operate and learn. 

 

In 2020, author J.K. Rowling tweeted multiple tweets about her view on the trans community, and was met with instant backlash and continued ridicule for comments she has not yet relented on. When this occurred, people used this opportunity to teach the masses in order to help the wider society better understand the trans community and what people might not have known. This is a rare example of cancel culture achieving this goal of helping society understand what the norms of our acceptable speech have become. Rowling's original tweets have not been taken down as they are protected, because Twitter is an American company, and it serves as a reminder of what unacceptable speech is today. But in most cases, cancel culture does not work like this or teach our society new ways to act. As we saw in 2018, when actor/comedian Kevin Hart was chosen to host the Oscars, old tweets of his resurfaced of him using homophobic language. These tweets were from 2009 to 2011, and Hart has since apologized for his tweets many times, but this is not the way we should use hateful speech to grow into a better society. Hart tweeted these things in a time where it wasn't great to say what he did, but it wasn't damning for people to say this like it is today. We as a society know what he tweeted is not socially acceptable today, but we can't learn and grow our understanding of acceptable speech by applying today's standards to yesterday's society. We need to allow speech we don't agree with to be heard in order to know what is socially acceptable.

The First Amendment not only protects the speech deemed socially acceptable by the general public, but also to "Protect Dissent". That's why there are so many political Facebook pages, Twitter profiles, YouTube channels, and websites that are considered very outlandish and conspiratorial, but are allowed to exist because it falls under the protection of free speech. While these opinions are not a part of the majority in most cases they are allowed because our government's power rests in the "consent of the governed". The government only has power because its people allow it and recognize its legitimacy. The people are almost encouraged to voice their opinions on the government to allow it to better govern in a way that benefits all. In addition to speech criticizing the government being protected, the same goes for speech against other people or groups. Anyone can publicly disagree with an organization/person for valid reasons and be protected by the First Amendment. For example, Tucker Carlson can disagree with the majority opinion on intervening in Ukraine with valid reasoning and not face serious consequences because of the First Amendment. We need to allow people to voice opinions that are against the majority because we cannot live in a society only seeing one side of each story.

The Supreme Court

Being one of the most respected and powerful judiciary groups in world, the Supreme Court holds massive influence over every aspect of our government. Their decisions having ripple effects in cases all over the country in any level of court or governing body, and in cases for decades or even centuries to come. The 9 judges on the court are appointed to determine the constitutionality of not only cases in lower and appellate courts, but also in the actions of the the legislative and executive branches of the federal government. While it isn't the most eventful or flashy aspects of our government, the results and decisions have shaped American democracy and life. 

In the reference video and its 2nd part, it gives a brief and insightful overview as to how the Supreme Court operates, from receiving cases, to how those chosen are argued on the court floor. The Supreme Court does not function like a local or state court would. Instead of hearing any case, few are chosen by the judges from thousands of letters each year for review. When the judges do hear a case in court, it also is not like other court proceedings. Each attorney is given 30 minutes to argue their case to the panel and answer the questions the judges may have about the case. The 9 judges then go into a conference room, alone, and deliberate on their decision and vote. Once a majority has agreed on a decision, a judge is required to write the opinion of the Court on the case summarizing the decision and the reasoning from the judges on how they came to that decision. If other judges in the majority disagree with the group's reasoning, they are allowed to write an opinion, also known as a concurring opinion. A judge in the minority is also allowed to write a dissenting opinion on their view of the decision. The opinion of the court is published after as many drafts as needed and implemented into decision making across the country. 

The videos helped me to understand that while the Supreme Court is very unique style of judiciary proceedings, it is still close to the court style that most people know in the lower courts all over the country. As I explained the Supreme Court's proceedings previously, it differs in many areas from lower court, including no juries, witnesses, and the Supreme Court only allows the attorneys to speak once, for 30 minutes, for the entire time an individual case is being heard. 

The most surprising piece of information I learned was the average tenure of the judges on the Supreme Court only being 16 years, especially compared to the total amount of judges we have had in the Supreme Court's history, being 100 judges. I had always known when judges are appointed they aren't young as they need the experience in many courts to prepare them for this job, but I assumed they either worked until they decided to retire or passed away in office. 

My Top 5 News Sources

 1. The Ringer

The Ringer is my go to site for news each day. They cover sports and entertainment in both writing and through many podcasts they offer on Spotify. It was founded in 2016 by a former producer and writer at ESPN, Bill Simmons. There are a few writers/podcasters on that site that I really respect and value what they write, specifically Adam Nayman and Sean Fennessey. I have been reading articles and listening to podcasts from The Ringer for a few years now, and I believe their opinions on sports and entertainment are usually objective, and reasonable.

2. The New York Times

The New York Times is my main source of what's happening in our country and world news. I trust this site for news that is very close to being un biased and objective. The New York Times is a very trusted newspaper of record in America and has won many awards over its lifetime. It is the only news source I actually pay for, so I do hold this site in very high regard.

3. Variety 

Variety is a site I go to for the more general pop culture and entertainment news, like casting alerts, profiles, or critiques on films. I check this site every couple of days, especially around awards season for interviews and results from lower circuit award shows. 

4. ESPN

ESPN is where I go for almost anything sports related, from college sports, to football, to Formula 1. This used to be on every morning in my house growing up before I left for school and I've always used the app on my phone as well. ESPN allows for you to personalize what sports it should prioritize showing you news for over others.

5. Twitter

While this one may be a more unconventional option compared to the other source listed above, I do consider Twitter to be a valuable news source. It's an easy way for me to find out information that I want to know as it happens, compared to waiting for an article or finding a TV or live stream of the news. While yes, it isn't always reliable compared to published sources, it is almost always faster than the more credible sites and mistakes are usually resolved soon after someone recognizes a mistake.