Knowing Your Rights

The First Amendment (1791) states:

"Above all else the First Amendment means that government has no power to restrict expression because of its message, its ideas, its subject matter, or its content." (Introduction, Pg. iv)

"We are protected by the United States Constitution from government interference with our right of free speech. Also, the Constitutions of every state in our country include guarantees of free speech." (Pg. 2)

"The Constitution does not demand that religion be kept out of our public schools. The Constitution only prohibits school sponsored religious activities." (Pg. 17)

"Students have the right to discuss religion during class time. Student behavior that is not illegal or disruptive cannot be stopped simply because the particular message is offensive to school officials." (Pg. 19)

"Students do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate." (Pg. 20)

"Where students have been granted freedom to compose their own speeches (e.g., valedictorian or salutatorian addresses, etc.), student expression should not be subjected to censorship because of its content." (Pg. 23)

"Prayer is a protected form of speech that cannot be banned by school officials when it is being offered in a manner such as See You At The Pole." (Pg. 25)

"When told to prepare an essay on a topic of choice, a student may select the birth of Christ, or any other religious topic the student wishes." (Pg. 26)

"In Stone v. Graham, the Supreme Court said, "the Bible may constitutionally be used in an appropriate study of history, civilization, ethics, comparative religion, or the like." (Pg. 27)

"School districts are under no constitutional obligation to rename "Christmas vacation" or as "Winter vacation" or some similar name. Any suggestion to the contrary is simply unnecessary and should be avoided." (Pg. 28)

"While parents may have little direct say about what ends up in public school curricula, federal law has given parents clear rights to exempt their children from experimental or value-related classes that depart from academics." (Pg. 29)

"It is against the law in this country for a person to be refused a promotion or a raise or be fired due to his religious beliefs." (Pg. 35)

"Religious discrimination includes, but is not limited to, the following: firing an employee because of that employees' Christian beliefs; loss of promotion due to one's Christian witness at work; failure to give an employee a raise until the employee no longer spends free time (such as breks or lunch) discussing religious beliefs with other employees; harassment of employees because they wear religious clothing, such as a Christian shirt or a cross around the neck; continual mocking of a person's religious convictions or intentionally using offensive language around somone in order to mock one's religious beliefs." (Pg. 35)