Final Paper
SOCA 323
Stephanie Crede

“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.”
Question: “Should the First Amendment be revised or updated to fit today’s society?”
This simple yet complex statement is what our nation was founded on. As a growing society, we exercise our freedom of speech every day. The first amendment is one of the most used in legal cases involving the United States Supreme Court. How can such a strong and powerful written document have such a great impact on society?! Regardless of its authority, the First Amendment has been a brick in our nation’s history. So why change it?! Well for starters, there are many Americans who do not agree with the Amendment. Others aren’t even aware of it. It seems almost crazy to follow such an important doctrine that is over hundreds of years old. Times have changed, and things clearly are not the same as back then.
Personally, I do not think the constitution needs to be touched. I feel that our society thinks it needs to be changed simply because it does not like what it has to say. Laziness is a better term. If we change the constitution, it opens an entire can of worms to start revising every amendment other than the first one. The founding fathers set America on the right track, and now people are trying to adjust the Constitution, and the first amendment to suit their needs and ideas. Changing any amendment undermines the fundamental values under which our country was founded. The constitution is not a document of convenience to suit the times. Right or wrong, current or outdated, if we go down the path of "updating" we marginalize the very democratic ideals of what our country represents. Once we change one amendment, it opens an entire can of worms to change the others, and before we know it, the constitution is no longer an original document that our country was built upon. The issue I feel must be raised is the question of how free the five rights protected by the 1st Amendment really are today, in 21st century America. Freedom of Religion notwithstanding, in many instances the other four rights guaranteed are, in my opinion, not truly not truly protected in the America we live in today. Here is an example: The right to petition and the right to assemble mean that citizens have a right to protest and rally against policies and/or a government that they feel does not represent their best interests. The sad truth is that any large, growing political or social movement that threatens the powers-that-be are