The First Amendment Quiz

The first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution are called the Bill of Rights.

In 1969 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Tinker v. Des Moines Schools that the First Amendment applied to public schools, and school officials could not censor student speech unless it disrupted the educational process.

While there are restrictions on students to limit disruption of learning, the First Amendment sets no age limit and applies to all Americans.

The First Amendment begins, "Congress shall make no law…"

The Virginia Declaration of Rights was the model for the Bill of Rights. The Virginia Declaration of Rights was written by George Mason and adopted on June 12, 1776.

The First Amendment prohibits only government officials from censoring free speech. Officials at private schools are not considered government officials despite any receipt of government funding.

James Madison, who initially opposed the Bill of Rights, later authored the First Amendment while serving as a congressman of Virginia. Madison served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817.

On Sept. 25, 1789, the First Congress of the United States proposed 12 articles of amendment to the Constitution. The states ratified articles 3 through 12 and the Bill of Rights was created. Article 2 was eventually ratified in 1992 as the 27th Amendment and Article 1 has never been ratified.

The Bill of Rights was ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures on Dec. 15, 1791.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the 1943 case West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette that students have the First Amendment right to refuse to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

The free exercise clause of the First Amendment provides the right for American citizens to accept any religious beliefs they choose.

The First Amendment applies to federal, state and local government, to protect individuals from government censorship. A private company is not connected to any government and is therefore not necessarily bound by the First Amendment.

While profanity is generally protected by the First Amendment, it must not contain a true threat or fighting words. Furthermore, profanity in broadcast media is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission.

Courts generally consider prior review as a form of unconstitutional restraint. Under the First Amendment, news media are protected against prior review by government officials. Scholastic media, however, may be subject to prior review by school administrators.

While the First Amendment does afford some protection for journalists, this protection is not absolute. A court can decide a journalist is not protected in some circumstances and order the journalist to reveal a source or face jail time.

In 1791 Congress commissioned 14 copies of the Bill of Rights, one for each of the 13 original states and one copy for the federal government.

The right to bear arms is protected by the Second Amendment, not the First Amendment. Freedom of religion and freedom of assembly are protected by the First Amendment.

Both groups are protected by the First Amendment right to peaceably assemble. The U.S. Supreme Court stated in the 1963 ruling of Edwards v. South Carolina that the government can not criminalize "the peaceful expression of unpopular views."

The First Amendment prohibits government officials from promoting a specific religion. A teacher is considered a government official and is prohibited from leading a prayer in class. A student is not prohibited from quietly praying on her or his own.

Trespassing is illegal whether covering a story or not. Under the First Amendment, press credentials afford journalists no special protections when it comes to trespass.

An individual does not have a First Amendment right to violate the copyright interests of another person. In some situations, the First Amendment does protect other types of speech, including lying.

The right of due process is covered by the Fifth Amendment. Many of the ideas in the Fifth Amendment can be traced back to the Magna Carta, which was issued in 1215.

Defamation is a false printed or verbal statement that harms the reputation of an individual. The First Amendment does not protect defamation.

The First Amendment does prohibit public school teachers from promoting or endorsing a specific religion. It does not prohibit teachers from discussing various religions in the context of course subject matter, such as covering Islam and Christianity while studying the Crusades.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the 1997 case Reno v. ACLU that speech on the Internet is protected by the First Amendment. However, cyber speech protections can be limited in some cases. For example, students are subject to school computer usage policies when using school computers or school-issued tablets.

Mocking the political views of others is generally protected by the First Amendment, provided there is no true threat or incitement of lawless action. Obscenity and false advertising are not protected by the First Amendment.

Privacy is not a specific freedom protected by the First Amendment or the Constitution. In the 1965 case of Griswold v. Connecticut, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that the right to privacy has "emanated" from other Constitutional rights.

The First Amendment provides five basic freedoms: speech, religion, press, assembly and petition.

In the 1989 case Texas v. Johnson, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that burning an American flag is protected under the First Amendment.

The original federal copy of the Bill of Rights is on display in the Rotunda of the National Archives in Washington, D.C.