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April 24, 2024

Lawmakers and courts reshape First Amendment rights

TikTok ban blocked, age verification law upheld by courts

James MadisonJames Madison pushed for an explicit guarantee in 1789 after Anti-Federalists feared a distant federal government would crush dissent.

In Schenck v. United States (1919) Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes endorsed the clear-and-present-danger test, which let the government jail anti-war critics.

Civil rights organizers and the NAACP in the 1950s and 1960s used free-speech claims for boycotts and marches and met legal and extra-legal suppression.

In Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969) the Court reversed prior restraint doctrine and protected political advocacy unless it incites imminent lawless action.

The pattern repeats across eras: wartime suppression in 1919, McCarthy-era blacklists in the 1950s, campus crackdowns and online removals in the 2020s.

In Murthy v. Missouri (Jun. 26, 2024) and in 2024–2025 litigation over TikTok and campus arrests, courts and legislatures have reshaped where speech can live and who can sue.

Today employers, university administrators and platform owners hold practical power; journalists, student activists and dissident minorities pay the costs.

The next battle centers on platform regulation and defining state action in pending cases and congressional rules that will decide whether government pressure equals censorship.

📜Constitutional Law🎓Education

People, bills, and sources

James Madison

James Madison

Framer and congressman

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

Associate justice, U.S. Supreme Court

Clarence Brandenburg

Defendant in landmark case

Amy Coney Barrett

Amy Coney Barrett

Associate justice, U.S. Supreme Court

Clarence Thomas

Clarence Thomas

Associate justice, U.S. Supreme Court

Vivek H. Murthy

U.S. Surgeon General

Eric Schmitt

Missouri attorney general

TikTok / ByteDance

Private company and parent

Ammer Qaddumi

UT Austin student plaintiff

Jay Hartzell

President, University of Texas at Austin

Ken Paxton

Ken Paxton

Texas attorney general

American Civil Liberties Union

Civil rights organization

What you can do

1

understanding

Study Supreme Court tests and doctrines that limit this right

Learn the legal tests courts apply — clear-and-present-danger, imminent lawless action, public forum doctrine and state-action analysis — and how they evolved.

2

learning more

Follow constitutional law experts and litigation centers

Track current cases, filings and scholarly analysis to see how court rules are being reshaped in real time.

3

practicing

Practice know-your-rights scenarios before protests or interactions with officials

Memorize key phrases, record interactions, keep witness names and document procedures to protect yourself when exercising speech or assembly.

4

civic action

File official civil rights complaints when this right is violated

Use agency complaint forms, meet deadlines, preserve evidence and ask for corrective action or investigations.

5

civic action

Join or support litigation and advocacy organizations

Become a member, donate or volunteer with groups that bring strategic First Amendment cases and offer legal help.

6

civic action

Use technology tools to document violations and get help quickly

Install secure recording apps, back up evidence to the cloud, and use hotlines that connect arrested journalists or protestors to lawyers.

7

civic action

Pursue legal remedies like Section 1983 suits or FOIA requests

When officials violate the First Amendment, file civil suits under Section 1983 or use Freedom of Information Act requests to expose coordinated pressure.