“Back before the Constitution enshrined the principle of free speech in the very First Amendment, the French writer, wit, and philosopher Voltaire said, ‘I may not agree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.’” Robert Mankoff, February 20, 2015, New York Times
This week we celebrate Bill of Rights Day, observed on December 15. It’s an important day for all Americans. These first ten amendments to the Constitution were ratified on December 15, 1791 (233 years ago). They are known as the Bill of Rights because they protect the most basic rights of Americans including freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, the right to protest, and equal protection under the law. Other amendments include the right to bear arms, protection against unreasonable searches and seizures, and so forth. Bill of Rights Day was introduced by James Madison, who later became the fourth President of the United States.
Libraries and library users especially celebrate the First Amendment to the Bill of Rights. This amendment which gives everyone residing in the United States the right to hear all sides of every issue and to make their own judgments about those issues without government interference or limitations. The First Amendment allows individuals to speak, publish, read, and view what they wish, worship (or not worship) as they wish, associate with whomever they choose, and gather together to ask the government to make changes in the law or to correct the wrongs in society.
The right to speak and the right to publish under the First Amendment has been interpreted widely to protect individuals and society from government attempts to suppress ideas and information, and to forbid government censorship of books, magazines, and newspapers as well as art, film, music and materials on the internet. The Supreme Court and other courts have held conclusively that there is a First Amendment right to receive information as part of the right to speak. Celebrate Bill of Rights Day—visit your library. Borrow something free with your library card just because you can.
“Freedom of speech is a principal pillar of a free government: When this support is taken away, the constitution of a free society is dissolved,” wrote Founding Father Benjamin Franklin in The Pennsylvania Gazette.