American Legal and Constitutional History

Name

History 376Q

American Legal and Constitutional History

Second Assignment , Spring 2008

American Legal and Constitutional History

Introduction

As residents or citizens of the United States of America , we enjoy certain rights that many people across the world do not have . One of those rights is freedom of speech , which is guaranteed to all of us through the United States Constitution . However , in some instances , our freedom of speech rights can be limited . One of those circumstances involves freedom of political expression . At this point , one would have

to ask how can a democratic country , which , like all other democratic countries , is based on freedom of speech , limit the same under certain conditions ? In to understand why and how this can happen , we will first examine the concept of citizenship and the Constitution of the United States as it relates to freedom of political speech . In addition to that , we will analyze how freedom of speech as it relates to politics can affect security and what affects current legislation has on freedom of speech . Based on the above-mentioned research , I intend to prove that compromising freedom of political expression is a violation of the United States Constitution and as such cannot be allowed . Furthermore , I will argue that passing legislature such as the US Patriot Act can be very dangerous as it provides government with the power to violate our freedom of speech rights

Citizenship

In the first part of the , we will examine and summarize the concept of citizenship . This is a very extensive process that is defined as the process by which some people are included and others are excluded as members of the community (Walker , 2002 . In our country everybody living here , regardless if citizen or not , enjoys the same protections from the law . The concept of citizenship is important because it associates us with our nation and with the law of the land

Essentially , rights granted to citizens are typically represented by a continuum however , the mere existence of citizenship does not necessarily equate to equivalent representation across the board , often with glaring inconsistencies across similar geographic locations or historic periods , of which history is rife with examples (Gans 2005 .So why is citizenship so important ? Citizenship is important because it gives everybody the constitutional rights . Nobody can take them away from a United States citizen , regardless of his political views or statements

As United States citizens , we are entitled to a set of rights , which is unique in the world . The United States Constitution entitles us to those rights and guarantees that we can enjoy them . The United States Constitution is the set of documents that embody the principles on which the United States is governed . The Constitution is the supreme law of the land and no other law , at any level of government , can be established without considering the rules and rights as set forth in that document . The part that is especially important to American as it relates directly to...