First Amendment, Press Freedom, and Media Law

Vocabulary flashcards covering the history of press freedom, First Amendment legal theories, religious liberty clauses, landmark speech and press Supreme Court cases, and journalism ethics.

Johannes Gutenberg

The German inventor credited with creating the world's first printing press in the 1400s.

William Caxton

The English merchant and printer who set up Britain's first printing press.

Licensing (Press Restriction)

A historical system of prior restraint where publishers were required to obtain government approval and pay a fee; the government could withhold or revoke permission if it disliked the content.

Bonding (Press Restriction)

A system where publishers were forced to deposit a large sum of money with the government, which was forfeited if they published material the government disapproved of.

Taxation (Press Restriction)

An added government fee placed on publications that was passed on to readers, often causing printers to go out of business if readers could not afford the higher cost.

Court of the Star Chamber

A secret English tribunal where individuals were punished for publishing without approval; truth was not recognized as a defense, and punishments ranged from fines, whippings, pillory, torture, and mutilation to imprisonment.

Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick

The first newspaper published in America (1690), which was banned after a single issue for criticizing government authorities, lacking prior approval, and operating without a license.

Trial of John Peter Zenger

A 1735 landmark legal case marking the first time truth was accepted as a defense against seditious libel charges, defying the explicit instructions of the presiding judge.

Jury Nullification

A process in which a jury returns a verdict of not guilty even though the defendant technically violated the law, as seen in the trial of John Peter Zenger.

Sir William Blackstone

English jurist whose four-volume Commentaries on the Laws of England defined freedom of the press as the absence of previous restraints upon publication.

Community Censorship

A social dynamic where citizens identify the prevailing sentiment of a community and self-censor by avoiding speaking or writing anything that conflicts with it.

Original Placement of the First Amendment

The numerical order in which the modern First Amendment was originally proposed to the states, which was third in the original list of proposed amendments.

Thomas Paine

The Chapter 1 Changemaker whose writings contributed significantly to sparking and sustaining the American Revolution.

Robert Filmer's Patriarcha

A political philosophy work that argued liberty was an unnatural right, prompting strong rebukes from contemporary political philosophers.

John Locke

The English philosopher and scholar who argued in 1690 that human beings are born free with inherent rights to freedom of expression, despite maintaining contradictory personal views on slavery.

Areopagitica

A 1644 speech by John Milton to the English Parliament arguing that freedom of expression allows truth to clash with falsehood, ultimately enabling good ideas to triumph over bad ones.

Marketplace of Ideas

The philosophical concept derived from John Milton's Areopagitica asserting that society benefits from diverse viewpoints, and that all ideas have value regardless of speaker or subject matter.

Safety Valve Value

A societal value of free expression asserting that when citizens have the freedom to make their voices heard peacefully, they are less likely to turn to violence to accomplish change.

Self-Governance Value

A societal value stating that democratic self-governance relies on knowledgeable citizens and an open exchange of ideas to make informed electoral choices.

Watchdog Value (Fourth Estate)

A societal value designating the news media as an unofficial fourth branch of government responsible for monitoring and checking the power of the other three branches.

Absolutist Theory

A First Amendment legal theory holding that the Founding Fathers intended the literal text of the Constitution to stand without compromise, meaning that 'no law' permits no government restrictions on speech.

Ad Hoc Balancing Theory

A legal theory holding that freedom of speech and press must be weighed on a case-by-case basis against other conflicting rights and societal interests.

Preferred Position Balancing Theory

A legal theory arguing that because freedom of expression is vital to American democracy, judicial balancing must give free speech rights a prioritized status over competing constitutional claims.

Meiklejohnian Theory

A First Amendment theory asserting that the primary purpose of the amendment is protecting political speech essential to self-government, giving political discourse greater protection than other forms of speech.

Access Theory

A First Amendment theory recognizing that constitutional guarantees are hollow unless ordinary citizens possess meaningful, realistic avenues to access the media and be heard.

Justice Louis Brandeis

The Chapter 2 Changemaker and U.S. Supreme Court Justice known for pioneering legal defenses of the right to privacy and ruling extensively on foundational First Amendment cases.

Establishment Clause

The First Amendment religious freedom provision prohibiting the government from creating, sponsoring, or advocating for or against any particular religion.

Free Exercise Clause

The First Amendment religious freedom provision preventing the government from interfering with citizens' rights to practice their religion in the ways they choose.

Separation between Church & State

The doctrine articulated by Thomas Jefferson in his 1801 response to the Danbury Baptist Association regarding governmental non-interference with religion.

Scopes Monkey Trial (1925)

A high-profile trial in which a Tennessee high school biology teacher, John Scopes, was convicted of violating a state statute that prohibited teaching the theory of evolution.

Epperson v. Arkansas (1968)

A Supreme Court decision striking down an Arkansas law that banned the teaching of evolution, finding that the prohibition was impermissibly based on religious doctrine.

Town of Greece v. Galloway (2014)

A Supreme Court ruling affirming that opening town council meetings with a ceremonial prayer does not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

Abington School District v. Schempp (1963)

A Supreme Court ruling holding that mandatory bible reading and school prayer in public schools violate the Establishment Clause.

Reynolds v. United States (1879)

A Supreme Court decision establishing that the Free Exercise Clause protects religious beliefs but not illegal religious practices, upholding a federal ban on polygamy.

Burwell v. Hobby Lobby (2014)

A Supreme Court case ruling that closely held, for-profit corporations have Free Exercise rights that permit them to refuse to provide employee contraceptive coverage that conflicts with owners' religious beliefs.

Carson v. Makin (2022)

A Supreme Court ruling holding that state tuition assistance programs providing vouchers for private secondary schools cannot exclude sectarian or religious schools.

Masterpiece Cakeshop Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (2018)

A Supreme Court case determining that a baker could refuse to design a custom wedding cake for a same-sex couple because of his religious convictions.

Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)

A landmark Supreme Court decision establishing that a state cannot restrict access to or prevent the publication of information regarding birth control.

Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)

A landmark student speech ruling establishing that students do not 'shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.'

Cohen v. California (1971)

A Supreme Court ruling protecting political speech, affirming a man's right to wear a jacket displaying 'Fuck the Draft' inside a public courthouse.

Virginia v. Black (2003)

A Supreme Court ruling striking down a state law that treated all cross burnings as prima facie evidence of intent to intimidate, confirming that cross burning can be protected symbolic speech.

Citizens United v. FEC (2010)

A Supreme Court ruling finding that legal restrictions on independent political expenditures and speech by corporations and unions violate the First Amendment.

Reno v. ACLU (1996)

A Supreme Court ruling establishing that the internet is constitutionally equivalent to print media rather than broadcast media and is entitled to full First Amendment protections from government regulation.

Right Not to Speak

A First Amendment freedom protected by a 1943 Supreme Court ruling establishing that public school students cannot be forced to salute the American flag.

Communications Decency Act of 1996

A federal law enacted by Congress attempting to regulate indecent and patently offensive material communicated across the internet.

Section 230

A provision within the Communications Decency Act providing immunity to online platforms and website publishers from legal liability for content posted by third-party users.

Lindke v. Freed (2024)

A Supreme Court ruling holding that public officials may only block constituents on social media accounts if the official has legal authority to speak on behalf of the state and was actively exercising that authority in the posts.

Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC)

A private watchdog organization whose public campaign pressured recording companies into placing explicit content warning labels on musical albums.

News Values

Journalistic criteria that determine newsworthiness, which includes prominence, conflict, unusualness, currency, and proximity.

Libel

The publication of false, unprivileged information about someone that causes financial injury, reputational harm, mental anguish, or public humiliation.

Truth (Libel Defense)

The primary and most absolute legal defense against allegations of defamation and libel.

Actual Malice

A constitutional standard of fault requiring evidence that a defamatory statement was published with knowledge that it was false, or with reckless disregard for its truth.

New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964)

A landmark First Amendment case providing news organizations heightened protection in libel suits brought by public officials by requiring proof of actual malice.

Prior Restraint

Pre-publication censorship where the government prohibits speech, text, or broadcasting before it is disseminated to the public.

Near v. Minnesota (1931)

A Supreme Court decision establishing that state 'gag laws' stopping publications are unconstitutional prior restraints, identifying only five narrow exceptions: national security in wartime, obscenity, incitement to violence, fair trial protections, and libel/privacy invasion.

Pentagon Papers Case (1971)

A Supreme Court ruling affirming that newspapers could publish classified historical reports on the Vietnam War because the government had not met its heavy constitutional burden to justify an injunction.

Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier (1988)

A Supreme Court ruling establishing that because public high schools own and sponsor student newspapers, school administrators can exercise prior editorial control over student articles.

Daniel Ellsberg

The military analyst and whistleblower who leaked the secret Pentagon Papers regarding the Vietnam War to the Washington Post and The New York Times.

Ida M. Tarbell

The Chapter 5 Changemaker and pioneering muckraking journalist known for her public lecture motto: 'The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.'