The Federalist: Supreme Court Revives The First Amendment In 3 Key Rulings

 

They underscore the right not to be compelled to worship at the government's altar, speak the government's message, or join the government's associations.

We often hear the Constitution called a “living document.” Many think that it is like a tree constantly growing new shoots, while old branches die and fall away. Limbs, once strong enough to support a man, might now break off and drop him on his head.

For more than seven decades, we have been subjected to a Supreme Court that is constantly finding new “constitutional rights,” based not on the explicit words of the Constitution, but on “penumbras” and “emanations” supposedly derived from other constitutional protections. We have also seen, over the course of decades, that each new “right” always tends to trump the rights that are actually named in the Constitution.

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