Another Misunderstanding of the First Amendment

Another court case involving religion and the First Amendment popped up recently. Unfortunately, the ACLU once again shows they’ve never actually read the First Amendment.

The American Civil Liberties Union is suing a Rhode Island high school over a prayer banner the group says violates the Constitution … The ACLU received a complaint from a parent and told Superintendent Peter Nero in July that the banner violates the First Amendment.

The lawsuit against the school district in the state’s largest city concerns a banner at Cranston West High School that became the center of controversy last summer despite having been posted since 1963.

OK, let’s review the First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The lawsuit concerns a banner (not a law) in a high school (not Congress), so there’s no constitutional problem. Read it again — CONGRESS shall MAKE NO LAW….

This is a high school, not Congress, and last time we checked, high schools don’t make Federal laws.

This is how far we’ve strayed from the original Constitution. We’ve covered the first amendment before, but it’s worth a read if you’re not familiar with the history (also see our other articles on The Constitution).

How did we get from “Congress shall make no law establishing religion” to “No private citizen or state shall have any display of religion” — an idea so obviously against what the Founders intended no sane person with the ability to read could disagree.

If you understand how we’ve strayed from the original intent, you’ll understand judicial activism.

Filed Under: The Constitution

Recommended Citation:
Yeager, Darrin "Another Misunderstanding of the First Amendment" (2023-11-23 14:45),
https://www.dyeager.org/post/another-misunderstanding-first-amendment-rhode-island-high-school.html
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