A Day of Respect for the Bill of Rights

Presidents v. Press: How the Pentagon Papers Leak Set Up First Amendment Showdowns

When the New York Times published the Pentagon Papers in 1971, it raised a question that continues to be debated: what is the role of a free press? The Times justified publishing secret government documents saying the American public should know it had been misled about the Vietnam War. President Richard M. Nixon sued to stop publication, and the case wound up before the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of The Times.

Today, the internet has made it easy to release reams of secret material with a keystroke. The Obama administration charged eight people with violating the Espionage Act for sharing government secrets with the press, more people than had been charged by all previous administrations combined. More recently, Donald Trump undertook a campaign to denigrate the mainstream press as purveyors of “fake news." This video explores the First Amendment and the role of the press in a democratic society. 
 

The Second Amendment
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Why We Can’t Have a Civil Conversation About Guns

The 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan and the shooting of his press secretary, Jim Brady, occurred at a time when gun violence in the United States seemed to be out of control. The National Rifle Association vehemently opposed strengthening existing gun laws. But in 1987, working with gun control advocates, Sarah Brady began a campaign to implement background checks to make it harder for guns to fall into the hands of those prohibited from owning them. Decades later, we explore lessons from that legislation.
 

The Eighth Amendment
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Three Strikes and You’re Out

In the mid 1990s, Three Strikes laws were adopted by 24 states and the federal government, emblematic of the view that violent crime was out of control, and marking a shift toward imposing stricter sentencing policies. But today with crime at historic lows, those get-tough laws have raised a whole new set of problems.