The 1st amendment of the United States Constitution accords any US citizen the right to freedom of Religion, Expression, Press, and Assembly. The initial objective of the amendment was to prohibit any system of control with regard to political expression. However, this platform has been abused by people pretending to be engaging in hate speech in the name of freedom of expression. Therefore, the masses craved the freedom to freely express their ideologies and political views without the fear of government punishment (Kishi & Jones, 2020). According to the amendment, Americans are free to assemble, gather, and demonstrate peacefully as long as they seek authorization from law enforcement. People can now express themselves religiously and politically independently without succumbing to the pressure of society. Although the 1st Amendment provides for the freedom of people of assembly, it should not be misused to organize violent demonstrations that lead to the destruction of life and property. In my major in literature, freedom of expression is used in composing literary works. I plan to use this freedom to write my own novel in the future a put what I have learned in the course into practice.
Under the First Amendment, the Constitution gives a person the freedom to follow or associate with any religion of their choice. The right to expression allows individuals to communicate their views and opinions freely as long as they do not offend others or infringe on the rights of other people (Kishi & Jones, 2020). However, the amendment only protects American citizens involved in peaceful gatherings and demonstrations as long as their protests are not violent. If the assemblies cause violence, infringe on other people’s properties, or threaten their lives, it becomes unlawful. When this happens, law enforcement officers are entitled to disperse the crowd of people assembling whenever they see a probable cause or reason to do so. The legislation gives police the jurisdiction to deny individuals the freedom to assembly if they are not authorized to do so.
Besides, the 1st amendment was introduced to curb illegal assemblies, protests, and demonstrations. The era during which it was developed and adopted was a period of transition or change (Mazumder, 2018). Therefore, it demanded the freedom to express their ideologies and political views freely without intimidation from the government. In response, the government was forced to introduce the 1st Amendment to the Constitution to quell the rising tensions. Therefore, there was a need for the government to create a law that would govern how people assemble. In this case, despite the act being introduced to protect the right of citizens to assemble, it was also enacted to curb unlawful assemblies. Therefore, people should exercise the freedom of assembly within the legal frameworks of the legislation. They should not assemble with the intent of causing violence, damaging people’s properties, or endangering their lives.
Recent cases of civil unrest and white supremacy have jeopardized the freedom to assemble. During the current protests in the United States, violence from both police and the public has been rampant (Mazumder, 2018). Assemblies no longer perform their initially intended purpose. Since some of the freedoms have been outdated, they need to be revised. However, this does not mean that they are still not applicable. Although the freedom of the assembly is good for the public, it has been misused. Unless citizens conduct peaceful assemblies, they risk being denied this right.
In conclusion, the United States Constitution, the First Amendment Act gives American citizens the right to assembly. However, it stipulates that this right is protected under the law as long as people assemble peacefully and with authorization from law enforcement. Besides, when exercising this right, individuals are expected to ensure they do infringe on other freedom such as speech, religion, expression, and press.
Reference
Kishi, R., & Jones, S. (2020). Demonstrations & political violence in America: New data for summer 2020. ACAD.
Mazumder, S. (2018). The persistent effect of US civil rights protests on political attitudes. American Journal of Political Science, 62(4), 922−935. Web.