They are five freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of press, freedom of assembly, and freedom of petition (Monk 127). People have the right to speak, meaning they cannot be stopped from communicating their opinions or ideas. Freedom of religion allows people to believe and practice any faith they desire, but that does not harm others. This is one thing that colonists wanted when they traveled from Britain to North America. People’s religion was reprimanded. Freedom of press is referring to the printed word, such as through newspapers, books, or other texts. Freedom of assembly allows people to assemble and that is something colonist seek when the British Parliament had forbid the colonists to assemble. Freedom of petition is the last freedom listed in the first amendment, which is the right for citizens to petition (Monk …show more content…
For example, there have been many court cases that deal with religion in education. Court cases such as Engel v. Vitale, Abington School District v. Schempp, and Lee v. Weisman. In 1992, the Supreme Court case Lee v. Weisman in which it ruled that in graduation ceremonies, prayers could not be conducted because it was unconstitutional (Monk 132). These laws were the involvement of freedom of religion. Education is not influenced by religion and students have the right to practice what they wish and are not made to practice a religion in public schools. Another example where it involved freedom of religion is the Supreme Court case Reynolds v. United States, which it was the first time the Free Exercise Clause was dealt with (Monk 134). Reynolds argues that his right to practice his Mormon faith was being infringed upon, but the Federal law prohibited Polygamy (Monk 134). It violated the Constitution, the Court overruled (Monk 134). Thus, this is where freedom of religion was tested because people may have the freedoms, but people’s acts cannot harm anyone or violate the Constitution. Moreover, freedom of speech was tested in the court case Texas v. Johnson in 1989. In this Supreme Court case, the Court rules that burning the U.S. flag was protected by the First Amendment (Monk 139). The Texas law said that this act of burning the flag offended other people, and what Gregory Lee Johnson did outside the 1984