Assignment:
· Typed, Times New Roman, 12pt font, black ink
· 1" margins, double-spaced, stapled (for hard copies to be submitted if/when we return to campus)
1. Is the First Amendment the most important amendment?
2. Is free speech a right that should be absolute?
3. Speaking from a historical perspective, why do you think the framers of the Constitution placed so much importance on the First Amendment?
4. Should the government tolerate people speaking against or criticizing it?
5. Should an amendment to ban burning the U.S. flag be passed?
6. Imagine you are an attorney asked to defend nude dancing as an act of expression that should be allowed in a small town bar. What would you say to represent your client's interests? Include an explanation of how nude dancing could be considered "speech"
7. Discuss whether Nazi Germany could have gone as far as it did if a similar First Amendment had been present in Germany.
8. Should all schools, public and parochial, receive equal support from the government?
9. Should there be any restrictions on public (i.e., government) employees' freedom of speech? Should it matter if the employee is speaking as a citizen on a matter of public concern? If yes, what would comprise an adequate justification from the employer to treat the employee differently than a regular citizen?
10. Discuss whether the U.S. government is hypocritical when, on the one hand, freedom of religion is guaranteed, but, on the other hand, Christianity is so obviously stated in the words of the Pledge of Allegiance, the fact that clergy are assigned to congress, and the like.