Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Amendment I (the First Amendment) of the United States Constitution is part of the United States Bill of Rights. It states: 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. Thus, it prevents the United States Congress from passing any law which: establishes a religion restricts religious freedom restricts free speech restricts the freedom of the press restricts the right of the people to demonstrate against the government The consequences of this Amendment to American society have been profound. First Amendment questions have been raised with regard to the separation of church and state; civil rights issues; pornography and obscenity; political speech and organizations; journalism and its restrictions; involuntary commitment laws; and many more. See also Freedom of assembly Antidisestablishmentarianism Civil religion Lemon test United States Constitution on Wikisource External links freedomforum.org: First Amendment United States Bill of Rights United States Constitution 2nd Amendment This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.