DISCLAIMER:

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom...of the press." Although the First Amendment specifically mentions only the federal Congress, this provision now protects the press from all government, whether local, state or federal.

The founders of the United States enacted the First Amendment to distinguish their new government from that of England, which had long censored the press and prosecuted persons who dared to criticize the British Crown. As Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart explained in a 1974 speech, the "primary purpose" of the First Amendment was "to create a fourth institution outside the government as an additional check on the three official branches" (the executive branch, the legislature and the judiciary).

Justice Stewart cited several landmark cases in which the Supreme Court -- the final arbiter of the meaning of the First Amendment -- has upheld the right of the press to perform its function as a check on official power. This page is intended as comic relief for the issues of our membership, it is strictly parody and humor, and not intended with maliciousness towards anyone, or anything. If you don't have a sense of humor, you're destined to live a life devoid of the ability to learn from your own mistakes.

Humor