Today is Constitution Day, which commemorates the day in 1787 that the Founding Fathers last met to dot the I’s and cross the T’s on the Constitution. The holiday itself evolved into its current status after several iterations, such as “I am an American Day” and “Citizenship Day.”
In 2004, Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia urged his colleagues to support the inclusion of an amendment to an omnibus spending bill that would change the name of the day to the Constitution Day and Citizenship Day. The amendment required that the head of every federal agency provide employees with educational material pertaining to the Constitution on that day. It also stated that each educational institution that gets federal funding should provide programming regarding the Constitution on the holiday.
Given the importance of the First Amendment to the Constitution to media folks, it’s worth asking: How well do you know what freedoms and protections the First Amendment provides? The Student Press Law Center gives you a way to find out with this handy 10-minute quiz. The 30 questions here cover a wide array of topics and scenarios.
Sure, it would be great to get all of them right, but that’s not the only thing that matters here. The better you understand your rights and WHY they are protected, the more easily you can stand up for yourself as a media practitioner and a citizen.