Donald Trump vs. the First Amendment

It started in earnest during his primary campaign.  Perhaps you did not notice, given all the outrageous utterances emanating from the man.  Over the course of the past year, though, Donald Trump has made known his distaste for the First Amendment.  

On October 13, the Committee to Protect Journalists, which usually concentrates on conflict zones where journalists face oppression and violence, found it necessary to issue this statement: "Donald Trump, through his words and actions as a candidate for president of the United States, has consistently betrayed First Amendment values."

Is the president-elect a threat to First Amendment rights?  Or is this merely Donald Trump being Donald Trump - threatening those who oppose him, hoping they will be cowered by his bluster and lawsuit threats?  Here's a timeline of some of his pronouncements.  You be the judge.

November 2015
"...religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"
Trump declares he would have "no choice" but to close down some mosques: “Nobody wants to say this and nobody wants to shut down religious institutions or anything, but you know, you understand it,” Trump said on Fox News’s 'Hannity' ... “A lot of people understand it. We’re going to have no choice.” (The Hill, Nov 18, 2015)

February 2016

"freedom of speech"

Threatens opponents and donors not supporting his candidacy:

1) Trump team sends a"cease-and-desist" letter to Ted Cruz, a primary opponent, after Cruz aired political ads showing Donald Trump speaking in support of abortion rights. 

2) Trump tweets threat to one of the Republican Party's mega-donor families after it was revealed as the funder behind a super-PAC set up to destroy Trump's candidacy. "I hear the Rickets [sic] family, who own the Chicago Cubs, are secretly spending $'s against me," the billionaire GOP front-runner tweeted on Monday. "They better be careful, they have a lot to hide!"

"freedom...of the press"

Trump declares that he would revisit the libel laws to make it easier to sue news organizations, like the New York Times and the Washington Post.  The Post argues,  "What Trump would like to do is prevent the media from holding him to account - to abridge the freedom of the press."  

March 2016

"...the right of the people to peaceably assemble"

Saying about protesters at a Kansas City campaign rally: "I hope these guys get thrown into a jail. They'll never do it again. It'll destroy their record. They'll have to explain to Mom and Dad why they have a police record and why they can't get a job. And you know what? I'm going to start pressing charges against all of these people. And then we won't have a problem." (NY Daily News, March 13)

Nov 2016

"freedom of speech"

"The 1st Amendment was meant to protect OFFENSIVE speech.  Don’t ever, ever forget that. Polite speech does not need protection."  (Ken Jorgiston, Modern Survival Blog)

Trump's tweet of November 29: "Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag - if they do, there must be consequences - perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!"  I'm not sure anyone but Trump has talked about flag-burning in many, many years.  Trump seems to have missed the fact that objectionable as flag-burning may be, the Supreme Court, on multiple occasions, has deemed it a form of symbolic speech protected by the First Amendment.

In an excellent analysis of this Trump tweet, Jeff Brooks (The Michigan Daily) warns about the slippery slope we could find ourselves on:  "If a U.S. citizen could be arrested or even stripped of their citizenship for an act that is clearly protected under the First Amendment, an all-out war on free speech could begin. Once flag-burning is outlawed, what is to stop the president from punishing U.S. citizens for engaging in other acts of protest?  Could someone be arrested for simply marching in the streets...or arrested for speaking ill of the president in any way?" Brooks agrees treating the tweet with this seriousness would be an overreaction "if it had been made in a vacuum.  Yet we must remember that this decree is coming from the same man who once urged his own supporters to 'knock the crap out of' protesters at his rallies. His actions and statements have continued to build upon one another over the course of the past year, and it is clear that an anti-First Amendment sentiment has emerged from Trump’s corner."

December 2016

"freedom of the press"

"Corey Lewandowski, Donald Trump’s first campaign manager, said ...that New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet 'should be in jail' because the newspaper published parts of the president-elect’s tax returns during the race...Lewandowski, who has been floated for a possible role in the White House or the Republican National Committee, had previously said he hoped Trump would sue the Times 'into oblivion'..." (NYTimes, Dec 2)

Peter Sterne at Politico thinks a bigger threat than libel suits to freedom of the press would be use of the Espionage Act.  He quotes Laura Handman, a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine who specializes in media and First Amendment law:  “What is very true is that an increase in prosecution of leakers and leak investigations has a huge chilling effect on the ability to report important information about what the government is up to.” 

The rights guaranteed by the First Amendment are one of the bedrocks of our American democracy.  Come January 20, Trump will be sworn to uphold the laws of the land.  Until then, whether Trump will (or even can) do anything to weaken the First Amendment will be a matter for debate.  What is not debatable is that presidents have been impeached for less.
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Image Credits
Bill of Rights is from Modern Survival Blog website.  
Kansas City protest is from New York Daily News.