From BJC Staff Reports, with information provided by the Newseum Institute
WASHINGTON — One-third of Americans say the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees, according to a survey released July 16.
The annual State of the First Amendment survey, conducted since 1997 by the Newseum Institute’s First Amendment Center, evaluates public knowledge and opinion about the First Amendment and related issues.
The gap between those who believe the First Amendment goes too far and those who do not has generally widened over the years. In 2013, however, a significant 13 percent more respondents than the previous year felt the rights go too far. Those who administered the survey point out that it was conducted in the weeks after the Boston Marathon bombing. According to the report, the jump in the number could represent a willingness to give up rights in exchange for greater security.
The survey results were released by Ken Paulson, First Amendment Center president, and Gene Policinski, chief operating officer of the Newseum Institute.
“It’s unsettling to see a third of Americans view the First Amendment as providing too much liberty,” said Paulson, who is also the dean of the College of Mass Communication at Middle Tennessee State University. “This underscores the need for more First Amendment education. If we truly understand the essential role of these freedoms in a democracy, we’re more likely to protect them,” he said.
The survey also asked Americans to name the most important freedom that citizens enjoy. The top response was freedom of speech, which 47 percent of Americans named. Freedom of religion came in second with 10 percent of respondents naming it as the most important. Freedom of choice was third at 7 percent; the right to vote and the right to bear arms were tied for fourth at 5 percent each.
A survey question regarding freedom to worship revealed an increase in Americans who do not feel the freedom applies to all religious groups. Thirty-one percent of people said freedom to worship was never meant to apply to extreme religious groups, the highest number since the question was first asked in 1997.
On other issues, the survey found:
—80 percent of respondents agreed it is important for our democracy that the news media act as an independent “watchdog” over government on behalf of the public.
—46 percent believe that “the news media try to report the news without bias,” the highest number since the survey began asking the question in 2004.
—Only 4 percent of those surveyed could name “petition” as one of the five freedoms in the First Amendment, the lowest percentage this year for any of the five freedoms.
—75 percent believe high school students should be able to exercise their First Amendment rights the same as adults.
“As a nation, we must better prepare our fellow and future citizens for the hard decision of defending core freedoms against those who would damage or limit them by violence or by law,” Policinski said.
In May 2013, 1,006 American adults answered the survey questions by telephone. The sampling error is +/-3.2 percentage points.
From the July/August 2013 Report from the Capital. Click here for the next article.
