First Amendment Center | Newseum Institute
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 Newseum Institutes First Amendment Center, with offices at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. and at the John Seigenthaler Center, on the Vanderbilt University campus, in Nashville, Tenn., serves as a forum for the study and exploration of free-expression issues through education, information and entertainment.
Founded by John Seigenthaler on Dec. 15, 1991, the 200th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution, the Center provides education and information to the public and groups, including First Amendment scholars and experts, educators, government policy makers, legal experts and students. The Center is nonpartisan and does not lobby, litigate or provide legal advice. It has become one of the most authoritative sources of news, information and commentary in the nation on First Amendment-related developments, as well as detailed reports about U.S. Supreme Court cases involving the First Amendment, and commentary, analysis and special reports on free expression, press freedom and religious-liberty issues.
For older articles and commentary, please visit the First Amendment Centers archival site.
Find First Amendment research articles by topic or keyword.
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Download or order publications on First Amendment issues.
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Learn more about the five freedoms of the First Amendment.
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One third of Americans still think the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees, according to the 2014 State of the First Amendment survey released June 24 by the Newseum Institute.
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Learn more about the First Amendment Center and what we do.
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The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution the cornerstone of American democracy is the focus of the Seigenthaler-Sutherland Cup National First Amendment Moot Court Competition.
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John Seigenthaler founded the Newseum Institutes First Amendment Center in 1991 with the mission of creating national discussion, dialogue and debate about First Amendment rights and values.
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First Amendment Center | Newseum Institute
- Inside the First Amendment fight over how Los Angeles polices words - USA Today - November 30th, 2025 [November 30th, 2025]
- Brands, bands, trademarks and the First Amendment - The Global Legal Post - November 30th, 2025 [November 30th, 2025]
- First Amendment in flux: When free-speech protections came up against the Red Scare - Free Speech Center - November 30th, 2025 [November 30th, 2025]
- The Pentagon and the FBI are investigating 6 legislators for exercising their First Amendment rights - Reason Magazine - November 30th, 2025 [November 30th, 2025]
- Corporations Say Its Their First Amendment Right To Hide - The Lever - November 30th, 2025 [November 30th, 2025]
- Campus Crackdown on the First Amendment - Folio Weekly - November 30th, 2025 [November 30th, 2025]
- Lange: Annoying emails are not exempt from the First Amendment - WyomingNews.com - November 30th, 2025 [November 30th, 2025]
- From burgers to the First Amendment: Cozy Inn wins mural lawsuit - KAKE - November 20th, 2025 [November 20th, 2025]
- Salina violated First Amendment rights of Cozy Inn on mural issue - The Hutchinson News - November 20th, 2025 [November 20th, 2025]
- After Bobby George Threatened to Sue Online Critics, CWRU's First Amendment Clinic Stepped In - Cleveland Scene - November 20th, 2025 [November 20th, 2025]
- First Amendment in flux: When free speech protections came up against the Red Scare - The Conversation - November 20th, 2025 [November 20th, 2025]
- First Amendment litigator explains the dos and donts of student protest - The Dartmouth - November 20th, 2025 [November 20th, 2025]
- We should protect the First Amendment like we do the Second - Indiana Capital Chronicle - November 20th, 2025 [November 20th, 2025]
- First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams and Berkshire Eagle President Fred Rutberg talk free speech, press freedom at the Triplex Cinema - The Berkshire... - November 20th, 2025 [November 20th, 2025]
- E&C Democrats: The Trump Administration is Violating the Whistleblower Protection Act and First Amendment by Retaliating Against Bethesda Declaration... - November 20th, 2025 [November 20th, 2025]
- First Amendment in flux: When free speech protections came up against the Red Scare - itemonline.com - November 20th, 2025 [November 20th, 2025]
- Judge rules Salina violated Cozy Inns First Amendment rights over burger mural - KSN-TV - November 20th, 2025 [November 20th, 2025]
- 7 Former FCC Commissioners Want 'News Distortion Policy' Rescinded for Threatening First Amendment - TheWrap - November 16th, 2025 [November 16th, 2025]
- Crystal River and the First Amendment - chronicleonline.com - November 16th, 2025 [November 16th, 2025]
- AG Sulzberger Honored with The James C. Goodale First Amendment Award - The New York Times Company - November 16th, 2025 [November 16th, 2025]
- Kansas county pays $3M for forgetting the First Amendment - Freedom of the Press Foundation - November 16th, 2025 [November 16th, 2025]
- Teachers and social media: A First Amendment fight - WGCU - November 16th, 2025 [November 16th, 2025]
- What To Know About How Florida Will Teach McCarthyism and the Cold War - First Amendment Watch - November 16th, 2025 [November 16th, 2025]
- Texas A&M University Professors Now Need Approval for Some Race and Gender Topics - First Amendment Watch - November 16th, 2025 [November 16th, 2025]
- Santa Ana cops need a refresher on the First Amendment - Orange County Register - November 16th, 2025 [November 16th, 2025]
- Was Mississippi State student arrested over 'free speech'? See what the First Amendment says - The Clarion-Ledger - November 16th, 2025 [November 16th, 2025]
- Social media restrictions and First Amendment rights for children | 'Law of the Land' on the Sound of Ideas - Ideastream - November 10th, 2025 [November 10th, 2025]
- Test your Constitutional knowledge: When can free exercise of religion be limited under the First Amendment? - AL.com - November 10th, 2025 [November 10th, 2025]
- Editing federal employees emails to blame Democrats for shutdown violated their First Amendment rights, judge says - CNN - November 7th, 2025 [November 7th, 2025]
- I am in love with the First Amendment | Opinion - PennLive.com - November 7th, 2025 [November 7th, 2025]
- EXCLUSIVE: Texas Good Ol Boys Club vs. First Amendment Krottinger Arrested Over Meme - Yahoo - November 7th, 2025 [November 7th, 2025]
- Trump Administration Speeds up New Rules That Would Make It Easier To Charge Some Protesters - First Amendment Watch - November 7th, 2025 [November 7th, 2025]
- America struggles to balance First Amendment free speech with gun rights amid political violence - Milwaukee Independent - November 7th, 2025 [November 7th, 2025]
- Man Who Threw Sandwich at Federal Agent in Washington Is Found Not Guilty of Assault Charge - First Amendment Watch - November 7th, 2025 [November 7th, 2025]
- Judge Will Order Federal Agents in Chicago To Restrict Using Force Against Protesters and Media - First Amendment Watch - November 7th, 2025 [November 7th, 2025]
- EXCLUSIVE: Texas Good Ol Boys Club vs. First Amendment - Krottinger Arrested Over Meme - Dallas Express - November 7th, 2025 [November 7th, 2025]
- Inside the 'harsh terrain' of Columbia University's First Amendment predicament - USA Today - October 28th, 2025 [October 28th, 2025]
- Biden Warns of Dark Days for the Country as He Urges Americans To Stay Optimistic - First Amendment Watch - October 28th, 2025 [October 28th, 2025]
- Victory! Court Rules that Minnesota Horse Teacher is Able to Continue Teaching in Important First Amendment Win - The Institute for Justice - October 28th, 2025 [October 28th, 2025]
- Anti-Abortion Pregnancy Centers Are Looking To Offer Much More Than Ultrasounds and Diapers - First Amendment Watch - October 28th, 2025 [October 28th, 2025]
- May the First Amendment be with you: Protester sues after Imperial March performance sparks arrest - Fast Company - October 26th, 2025 [October 26th, 2025]
- Mitchell and Mayes ask judge to toss out law against prosecutions targeting First Amendment rights - KJZZ - October 26th, 2025 [October 26th, 2025]
- Creator of app that tracked ICE talks about its removal and the First Amendment - NPR - October 24th, 2025 [October 24th, 2025]
- How Trump's Threats Against the NFL Could Violate the First Amendment - American Civil Liberties Union - October 24th, 2025 [October 24th, 2025]
- 'He played The Imperial March as he walked': Man arrested for playing Darth Vader's theme at National Guard troops sues over alleged First Amendment... - October 24th, 2025 [October 24th, 2025]
- Arizona law protects First Amendment rights. Maricopa County wants to overturn it - azcentral.com and The Arizona Republic - October 24th, 2025 [October 24th, 2025]
- John Foster: First Amendment rights and whether you really should say that - dailyjournal.net - October 24th, 2025 [October 24th, 2025]
- Creator of app that tracked ICE talks about its removal and the First Amendment - Boise State Public Radio - October 24th, 2025 [October 24th, 2025]
- Author Michael Wolff Sues Melania Trump, Saying She Threatened $1B Suit Over Epstein-Related Claims - First Amendment Watch - October 24th, 2025 [October 24th, 2025]
- Creator of app that tracked ICE talks about its removal and the First Amendment - WVIA Public Media - October 24th, 2025 [October 24th, 2025]
- Jimmy Kimmel Clash Was "Never About The First Amendment", Sinclair Exec Insists; FCC "Overreach" & Nexstar-Tegna Mega-Deal... - October 23rd, 2025 [October 23rd, 2025]
- Sinclair COO Rob Weisbord insisted that the local TV giant's recent clash with late-night host Jimmy Kimmel was "never about the First... - October 23rd, 2025 [October 23rd, 2025]
- Historys Lessons for the Second Committee for the First Amendment - The Nation - October 21st, 2025 [October 21st, 2025]
- Why did the city turn off social media comments? Does that violate the First Amendment? - WQOW - October 21st, 2025 [October 21st, 2025]
- Euphemisms, Political Speech, and the First Amendment - The Dispatch - October 21st, 2025 [October 21st, 2025]
- Indiana University Fires Student Newspaper Adviser Who Refused To Block News Stories - First Amendment Watch - October 21st, 2025 [October 21st, 2025]
- Mike Johnson Accuses No Kings Protesters of Blatantly Exercising First Amendment Rights - The Borowitz Report - October 21st, 2025 [October 21st, 2025]
- Florida chooses harassment and intimidation, over the First Amendment | Letters - Tampa Bay Times - October 19th, 2025 [October 19th, 2025]
- Test your Constitutional knowledge: Are these protests protected by the First Amendment? - AL.com - October 19th, 2025 [October 19th, 2025]
- Know Your First Amendment Rights Before the Assignment - National Press Foundation - October 19th, 2025 [October 19th, 2025]
- Lawrence school board candidates share how they would apply the First Amendment while in office - Lawrence Journal-World - October 19th, 2025 [October 19th, 2025]
- Florida chooses harassment and intimidation, over the First Amendment | Letters - Yahoo - October 19th, 2025 [October 19th, 2025]
- First Amendment rights and whether you really should say that - The Republic News - October 19th, 2025 [October 19th, 2025]
- The Knight Institutes Ramya Krishnan on the Trump Administrations Unconstitutional Targeting of Noncitizen Speech - First Amendment Watch - October 19th, 2025 [October 19th, 2025]
- A Brief Legal Analysis of the Department of Educations Proposed Compact for Higher Education - | Knight First Amendment Institute - October 17th, 2025 [October 17th, 2025]
- Attorney General Bonta Co-Leads Multistate Coalition in Defense of First Amendment Protections for Noncitizen Students and Faculty - State of... - October 17th, 2025 [October 17th, 2025]
- Brown University Rejects Trumps Offer for Priority Funding, Citing Concerns Over Academic Freedom - First Amendment Watch - October 17th, 2025 [October 17th, 2025]
- Prominent First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams to give annual Amanpour lecture Rhody Today - The University of Rhode Island - October 17th, 2025 [October 17th, 2025]
- Do Government Media Policies Like the Pentagons Violate the First Amendment? - Freedom Forum - October 17th, 2025 [October 17th, 2025]
- COLUMN: Jimmy Kimmel cant hide behind the First Amendment | Mike Rosen - Denver Gazette - October 17th, 2025 [October 17th, 2025]
- Journalists Turn in Access Badges, Exit Pentagon Rather Than Agree to New Reporting Rules - First Amendment Watch - October 17th, 2025 [October 17th, 2025]
- 5 days and the First Amendment's future: CSU reinstates free speech policy following weeklong protests - The Rocky Mountain Collegian - October 17th, 2025 [October 17th, 2025]
- Federal Judge Blocks Texas From Enforcing Law Giving the First Amendment a Bedtime by Banning Overnight Protest Encampments - The New York Sun - October 17th, 2025 [October 17th, 2025]
- Fox News rebuke shows Trumps attacks on First Amendment are hitting roadblocks - CNN - October 15th, 2025 [October 15th, 2025]
- Americans agree the First Amendment is important, but many are unsure why, survey says - AL.com - October 15th, 2025 [October 15th, 2025]
- Chiles v. Salazar : a Defining Test for the First Amendment - City Journal - October 15th, 2025 [October 15th, 2025]
- State of the First Amendment Address to focus on algorithms, free expression, AI - University of Kentucky - October 15th, 2025 [October 15th, 2025]
- New York Times, AP, Newsmax Among News Outlets Who Say They Wont Sign New Pentagon Rules - First Amendment Watch - October 15th, 2025 [October 15th, 2025]
- Editors notebook: The First Amendment under threat in Tennessee - Tennessee Lookout - October 15th, 2025 [October 15th, 2025]
- U.S. news organizations reject Pentagon reporting rules, say they undermine First Amendment - The Globe and Mail - October 15th, 2025 [October 15th, 2025]