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1. Vanderbilt University’s Freedom Forum First Amendment Center Web site is an excellent source of information
concerning civil liberties. Go to http://www.freedomforum.org/first/welcome.asp
- Select the "Outrage of the Week" and open the page. What first Amendment right is involved
in this issue?
- How and why did the issue arise? (Summarize briefly the "facts" of the "outrage.")
- How do you feel about this issue? Is it one that is protected by the First Amendment? Should the federal
government be involved?
- Return to the main page and select one of the news stories. Summarize the story as it relates to the
question of how the First Amendment should be interpreted.
2. Freedom of Speech and of the Press
One of the most frequently discussed and highly treasured civil liberties is the right to free speech
and freedom of the press. Over the years, the Supreme Court has heard many cases on this topic. Starting
in 1955, the Court recorded their oral arguments; a few years ago the Oyez website at Northwestern University
started making digitized recordings of these oral arguments publicly available.
Go to http://oyez.nwu.edu/ and you will be at the main
page of the Oyez website. Select the link at the bottom of the page to "Cases." Select the link
on the left to "Search by Subjects", then select the "Freedom of the Press" link.
Select the "Hustler Magazine v. Falwell" case. If your web browser has the RealAudio
plugin, select the "Oral argument" link and listen to the actual Supreme Court oral arguments
from the case. If not, and you have an audio card, go to http://www.real.com/products/player/index.html
and download the free player. Then go back to the website and listen to the oral arguments. One good thing
about this configuration is that once the oral arguments have begun, you can go to other websites or do
other work as long as your connection is maintained with the Internet. Then answer the questions at the
end of the next paragraph.
If you do not have a sound card, or are otherwise unable to listen to the oral arguments, you can still
answer the following questions by selecting the "Findlaw Written Opinions of the Court" link,
and reading the case:
- Briefly summarize the facts of the case.
- What is the constitutional question covered by the case?
- What did the court conclude?
- How many justices voted with the majority? Was it a unanimous decision?
- What do you think about the decision? Do you agree or disagree with the court? Why or why not?
3. Go to http://www.freedomforum.org/ and you
will find the Freedom Forum, one of the premiere First Amendment organizations on the internet. This website
is updated frequently, and provides information about first amendment cases, issues, and news. It is a
nonprofit, international organization dedicated to first amendment freedoms.
- Select one of the links in the left-hand column and summarize the first amendment issue involved.
Go to http://www.cdt.org/ and you will find the
Center for Democracy and Technology. Until the Supreme Court found the Communications Decency Act unconstitutional
in mid 1997, the CDT’s main focus was on opposing that law. Scroll down through the "Issues"
section in the left-hand column of the page. Select the link to "Free Speech." Then scroll down
to the section on the July 1997 White House Meeting in the left-hand column.
- What is the User Empowerment Approach?
- How does the User Empowerment Approach contrast with the approach of the Communications Decency Act?
- `Follow the link to "Netparents.org." Do you think the information at this website could
be useful for parents? Do you think parents should monitor their children’s internet activities?
4. The Second Amendment and Gun Control
The listed URL’s represent two groups—Handgun Control, Inc. and the National Rifle Association—with
diametrically opposed views on the issue of gun control and the concomitant interpretation of the Second
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. That Amendment reads as follows: "A well regulated Militia, being
necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be
infringed."
Go first to the Handgun Control website and review the various "news alerts" regarding gun control.
Usually, these alerts criticize the NRA’s pro gun-control positions and are likely to provide background
information on interpretations of the Second Amendment. No go back to the main site and hit the "Information"
link. This will take you to another link, entitled "The Myth of the Second Amendment." Hit this
link, read the subsequent material, and answer the following questions:
- Why is the term "militia" in the Second Amendment so important?
- Why is the Amendment an anachronism in the 20th century?
- What is the constitutional significance of U.S. v. Miller?
- Why did Warren Burger term the NRA’s use of the Amendment a "fraud"?
- Why is U.S. v. Emerson termed a "renegade" decision?
Now go to the NRA’s Research and Information Division site. Find the links to the "Fact Sheet"
covering federal court cases and the second amendment and the Kates article entitled "Gun Control=Gun
Prohibition." Answer the following:
- How does the NRA interpret the Miller decision?
- What is the "core belief" of the Gun Control Movement?
- How does the NRA view the beliefs of columnists Wills and Krauthammer?
- How does Kates attack the United Methodist Church, Betty Friedan, and Mario Cuomo?
- How and why does Kates attack the idea of national gun confiscation?
After reading the material from both sites, what is your interpretation of the second Amendment and
position on the issue of gun control?
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