First Amendment Center
Online
Web site features comprehensive research coverage of key First
Amendment issues and topics, daily First Amendment news, a unique First
Amendment Library and guest analyses by respected legal specialists.
Inside the First
Amendment
Free weekly column about free expression provides
perspective on cutting-edge issues involving freedom of speech, press and
religion. It reminds readers of the importance of protecting First Amendment
freedoms. It has appeared in 200 newspapers nationwide.
Freedom Forum/American Press Institute First
Amendment Seminars
The Freedom Forum and the American Press Institute
are collaborating on a program to enhance newspaper professionals' understanding
of and appreciation for the First Amendment.
Moot Court competition
The
First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution — the cornerstone of American democracy
— is the focus of the National First Amendment Moot Court Competition.
Recognized as one of the nation's finest constitutional law competitions, this
annual event features a current First Amendment controversy.
Justice &
Journalism
A series of discussions between judges and journalists on
access, news-media accountability and other issues. Related resource: A Journalist's
Guide to the Federal Courts.
Freedom Sings™
A
critically acclaimed multi-media experience featuring an all-star cast of
musicians and an 'only-in-America' story line. This entertaining, irreverent and
inspiring program — packed with live music, video and graphics — is touring the nation, appearing at conferences and colleges.
Freedom Sings tells the story of almost three centuries of banned or censored
music in America and invites audiences to take a fresh look at the First
Amendment.
National FOI
Day
Annual program of speaking and discussion by specialists in
various aspects of freedom of information, updating developments in FOI over the
preceding year.
The Copyright Office Comes to Music City
Annual discussion, co-hosted by the First Amendment Center, on the state of copyright law with members of the U.S. Copyright Office, copyright attorneys and individuals with various roles in the music and publishing industries.
First Amendment education programs
Through its education
programs, the First Amendment Center works with schools and communities
throughout the nation. The center's school-reform initiative, consensus
guidelines and conflict-mediation efforts are designed to promote strong public
support for First Amendment principles and ideas. The center's religious-freedom
programs educate Americans about the history, meaning and significance of the
First Amendment's religious-liberty clauses. The programs help Americans find
common ground across religious differences using the guiding principles of
religious freedom. First Amendment Center education and religious-freedom
programs include:
First Amendment
Schools
This multiyear collaboration between the First Amendment
Center and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) is
designed to transform how schools teach and apply the guiding principles of the
First Amendment. The initiative is developing model schools throughout the
nation to encourage all schools to become laboratories of democratic freedom.
(See Web site at link above.)
Finding Common
Ground
From court-ordered training for teachers and administrators in
northern Alabama to mediation between religious conservatives and schools in
northern California, the center uses First Amendment principles to
resolve conflicts over religion and values in public schools.
3Rs — Rights, Responsibilities
& Respect
The First Amendment Center sponsors statewide "3Rs"
programs in California and Utah that help school districts develop
religious-liberty policies and prepare teachers to address religion and
religious diversity in the classroom. Similar initiatives are under way in many
local districts in Texas, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, New York and other states.
Consensus guidelines
The center produces consensus guidelines on
First Amendment issues in education. In January 2000, the U.S. Department of
Education disseminated three of these agreements to every public school in the
nation. The center's publication Religious Liberty, Public Education, and the
Future of American Democracy, is co-sponsored by 24 religious and
educational organizations ranging from the Christian Coalition to People for the
American Way.