Has the Government Taken Our Rights Away?

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Recommended: Limitation on freedom of speech

When the United States of America was first formed, its citizens had many new rights and freedoms that they did not have in their motherland. Today; however, citizens of the United States do not share as many rights as the first immigrants had. A freedom that individuals think has been stripped away from them is the freedom to protest. This freedom has been restricted over time by the government who has set many rules and regulations on protesting laws. However, in society today, many wonder whether or not these restrictions are justified or if they break the constitutional rights of being an American. The Constitution is the cornerstone of our freedoms, without it, our freedoms would not be protected. Many individuals think that the Constitution states that we have a right to protest on public and private property; however, this is never said in the First Amendment. (Freivogel) This; however, does not mean that we have no right to protest; it means that protesters may be arrested for expressing views on public property, and if you are private property the owner is able to press charges because of trespassing. The Constitution also states that “the right to protest does not include the right to camp out.” (Freivogel) This means that individuals cannot stay overnight in public or private property in an act of protest. (Freivogel) Individuals may not protest during the night because they will be disturbing the peace. “The government can place restrictions on time and place for protesting.” (Hentoff) A federal, state, or local government may put restrictions on unreasonable times and they may say that individuals are not allowed to protest in a certain area, but this does not mean that they can restrict a certain group from expressi... ... middle of paper ... ... 2 Nov. 2011. Web. 15 Dec 2013 Barr, Meghan. "3 Occupy Wall Street Protesters Arrested." ABC Local. American Broadcasting Channel, 17 Sept. 2013. Web. 06 Dec. 2013. Egendorf, Laura K. Free Speech. San Diego, CA: ReferencePoint, 2008. Print Freivogel, William. “What Place Do Protesters Occupy in the Constitution.” St. Louis Beacon. 27 Sept. 2011. Web. 15 Dec. 2013 Hentoff, Nat. Free Speech for Me – But Not for Thee. New York: HarperCollins, 1992. Print Loth, Renee. “A Zone That Should Be Left Alone.” Boston Globe. 12 Oct 2013 A.1 SIRS Issues Researcher We. 06 Dec 2013 ProQuest Staff. “First Amendment Rights Timeline.” Leading Issues Timelines. 2013: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web 04 Dec 2013 Richey, Warren. "Free Speech Outside Supreme Court: Ban on Protests in Plaza Struck..." Christian Science Monitor. 12 Jun. 2013: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 06 Jan. 2014.

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