By: John Mark Shorack, Katherine Szetu, Ibis Almada, and Paul Ji
Narrator: Morgan Freeman.
*He reads the title “Bill of Rights. A documentary by John Mark Shorack, Katherine Szetu, Ibis Almada, and Paul Ji. (Picture of the original Bill of Rights)*
*Transition into him narrating the introduction written by Paul about the BIll of Rights (Picture of Framers)*
“As the Framers of United States Constitution was debating over its content, their opponents repeatedly charged that the Constitution might cause another tyranny by the central government. They still remembered the British violation of civil rights before and during the Revolution. In order to protect their rights, they demanded a “bill of rights” that would spell out the immunities of individual characters. When the Constitution was ratified, some of the States merely agreed to it understanding that the amendments would be offered.”
*Transition (Picture of gavel) while Morgan Freeman continues to narrate.*
“On September 25th of 1789, the First Congress proposed to the state legislatures 12 amendments to the Constitution that the opposition argued mostly about. The first two amendments that talked about the number of constituents were not ratified.”
*Transition (Picture of Bill of Rights up close).*
“However, Articles III to XII were ratified. They constituted as the first 10 amendments of the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights.”
*Now we show Morgan Freeman on the screen talking to the camera.*
“Over the last couple of centuries, the Bill of Rights protected the basic freedom and alienable rights of the citizens of the United States of America. One of the most noticeable amendment is the 1st Amendment, which ensures the freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition. We are going to look at some examples in American history where the 1st Amendment protected the very rights entitled to us by the Bill of Rights.”
*Transition into a black screen that says “West Virginia Board of Education V. Barnette, 1943” with Morgan Freeman narrating.*
“The first case we will look at is the West Virginia Board of Education V. Barnette case of 1943.”
*Transition (Picture of kids saluting the American flag that is black and white).*
“During World War II, the West Virginia Board of Education required from all of the students and teachers a salutation to the flag. Going against that rule could get a student expelled, and parents could even lose the custody of their child. Jehovah Witnesses took, the requirement from the school, to court arguing that it violated the first amendment of the constitution, where they have freedom of religion. To them saluting the flag was like idol and/or image worship which goes against their beliefs.”
*Transition (Picture of kids saluting the American flag that is in color).*
“By a 6-3 votes, Court decided that forcing a student to salute the flag was in fact a violation of the first amendment. This was based on the first amendment that prohibits government officials from making individuals do something that goes against the individual’s personal belief. The majority opinion was that if a student did not pledge the flag, it would not affect other students and that they could skip the salutation if they reminded passive while other students did pledge.
Thanks to the first amendment, court abolished the rule that the school had, letting the Jehovah witnesses off the hook from giving their pledge to the flag them and today. This also applies for anyone whose religious beliefs restrain them from doing so.”
*Transition to black screen with “Schenck V. United States, 1919”.*
“The second case that we will look at the the Schenck V. United States case of 1919.”
*Transition (Picture of Schenck)*
“During World War I congress passed a number of laws restricting 1st Amendment freedoms to curb antiwar dissent. In 1917 the Espionage Act allowed the government to give penalties to those who disturbed the military, interfered with the drafts or said “false” statements against war effort. In 1918 it became a crime, people were forbidden to published things that the government thought disrespectful to the country. Consequently, many leaders and journalists went to jail.”
*Transition (Picture of free speech)*
“However, a strong leader step out, Charles Schenck. Schenck was the general secretary of the socialist Party of America, who had participated in many antiwar activities and distributed pamphlets that went against drafting. As a result, he was arrested using the espionage Act, by arguing that he was trying to make the military rebelled against the United States.
Schenck believed that the Espionage Act was unconstitutional itself, while the government thought it was necessary for times of war. Therefore, congress decided to make a vote in which they won 9-0 in favor of the Espionage act saying that reasonable limitations during war time are necessary.”
*Transition into the black screen with “Republican Party of Minnesota V. White, 2002”.*
“The last case that we are going to look at is the Republican Party of Minnesota V. White case of 2002.”
*Transition (Picture of Minnesota)*
“Gregory Wersal was a candidate to the Supreme Court of Minnesota. The Supreme Court of Minnesota had instituted a law that prohibited a “candidate for a judicial office” from “announc[ing] his or her views on disputed legal or political issues”.”
*Transition (Picture of George Wersal)*
“Mr. Wersal decided to appeal to the National Supreme Court claiming that the law went against the 1st Amendment. The National Supreme Court decided, “The announce clause both prohibits speech based on its content and burdens a category of speech that is at the core of First Amendment freedoms–speech about the qualifications of candidates for public office”. ”
*Transition (Picture of the Court)*
“Mr. Wersal’s point was valid. The Supreme Court overruled any previous decisions and declared it unconstitutional. A law cannot stop us from speaking our beliefs, because every citizen has the freedom of speech.”
*Transition back to Morgan Freeman talking to the camera*
“As you can see, the 1st Amendment protected the very unalienable rights that are given to us by the Constitution time over time. Maybe the opposers of the Constitution weren’t completely wrong. After all, it is due to their efforts that we have the Bill of Rights that ensure our freedoms and rights.”
*Credits*
U.S. Government Honors. 