Mandatory uniforms in PUBLIC schools; State mandated moments of silence in public schools; the battles over religion and religious displays on public property; presidential candidates espousing their religious beliefs (Huckabee & Romney); and, people espousing hatred towards advocates.
To me, there seems to be a real First Amendment crisis going on in this country. What is even more worrisome is that many Americans don't seem to care, or they are rationalizing the unconstitutional actions claiming that they are not unconstitutional at all.
For example, there is no doubt that mandatory uniforms (See Tinker v. Des Moines School Dist.) and State mandated moments of silence in public schools violate the First Amendment, even under a content-neutral analysis (See Ward v. Rock Against Racism) because the public school districts and the State cannot show that they have a legitimate substantial governmental interest to enact these regulations, especially considering the compelling parental interests involved with these issues. Take a look at the comments from many of the locals here in regards to the mandatory uniform policy and the State mandated moment of silence. There are people all over the country debating these issues to an inappropriate extreme. To me, regardless of whether it seems like a good idea or not, or whether it can be sufficiently rationalized or not, if it violates the First Amendment, it is a bad law.
To me, there seems to be a real First Amendment crisis going on in this country. What is even more worrisome is that many Americans don't seem to care, or they are rationalizing the unconstitutional actions claiming that they are not unconstitutional at all.
For example, there is no doubt that mandatory uniforms (See Tinker v. Des Moines School Dist.) and State mandated moments of silence in public schools violate the First Amendment, even under a content-neutral analysis (See Ward v. Rock Against Racism) because the public school districts and the State cannot show that they have a legitimate substantial governmental interest to enact these regulations, especially considering the compelling parental interests involved with these issues. Take a look at the comments from many of the locals here in regards to the mandatory uniform policy and the State mandated moment of silence. There are people all over the country debating these issues to an inappropriate extreme. To me, regardless of whether it seems like a good idea or not, or whether it can be sufficiently rationalized or not, if it violates the First Amendment, it is a bad law.
