Support for First Amendment on rise
But study says one-third of Americans can’t specify its parts
Americans’ support for the First Amendment rebounded strongly over the past year, a new study says.
Three-quarters of Americans said it “does not go too far” in ensuring Americans’ freedom. That’s a jump from 57% after the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013 stirred public debate about the role of social media during a crisis and the media’s use of shocking images, according to State of the First Amendment 2015, a report by the Newseum Institute’s First Amendment Center in partnership with USA TODAY.
A year ago, 38% said the First Amendment went too far, but the current survey shows 19% agreed with the sentiment.
The study saw a similar dive in public opinion and a subsequent recovery after the terrorist attacks on the USA in 2001, the authors noted.
“Once again, there is a falloff in the number of those who say the First Amendment goes too far when we move away from a terrorist attack,” says Gene Policinski, chief operating officer of the Newseum Institute, one of the authors of the study.
“We ought to be very vigilant when these attacks occur” and not hastily pass laws that limit freedoms, Policinski says. “The laws are permanent, the emotions that surround these events are not.”
The study, developed by Policinski and Ken Dautrich, president of the Stats Group, was based on telephone interviews with 1,002 American adults.
The study found that many people weren’t very familiar with what is included in the First Amendment.
The survey found that onethird of Americans couldn’t name any of the rights the amendment guarantees. Less than two-thirds of survey respondents — 57% vs. 68% a year ago — were able to cite freedom of speech as one right protected by the amendment.
Nineteen percent were able to cite the freedom of religion, down from 29%.
One in 10 mentioned the freedom of the press, as many as those who were able to recall the right to assemble. The right to petition seems to have been for- gotten by nearly all Americans: Only 2% were able to name it as part of the First Amendment.
Americans are skeptical about the news media’s claim to objectivity.
About a quarter — 24% — said they believe the news media try to report on news without bias, a 17-percentage-point drop from last year. It’s the lowest since the study first began asking this question in 2004.
A flurry of headlines in recent months about the journalistic sins of high-profile media personalities — Brian Williams, who was demoted at NBC for lying, and ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, a former aide to President Clinton whose contribution to the Clinton Foundation came to light recently — may have negatively influenced respondents’ feelings about the news media, the study said.
Older audiences were more likely to buy into the media’s mantle of objectivity: 26% of those 50 or older agreed with the claim. Only 7% of 18-29-year-olds agreed.
Democrats (36%) were much more likely to say they believe the news media try to report without bias, as opposed to Republicans (19%).
Other conclusions:
Christian nation: A slight majority, 51%, said they believe the U.S. Constitution establishes a Christian nation, largely unchanged since the question was first asked in the poll in 2007. The belief was more prevalent among older respondents, 54%, than younger people, 37%.
Serving gay couples: Despite advances in gay rights, the percentage of people who agreed that wedding service providers should be required to serve samesex couples has fallen to 38% from 52% in 2013.
Recording police: Eightyeight percent of Americans said they support allowing people to record the activities of the police as long as they do not interfere with police actions.
Depicting Mohammed: Sixty percent said they are in favor of allowing cartoonists to publish images of the Islamic prophet Mohammad, while 32% were against this. The survey didn’t ask about the images of other religions.
Confederate flag: About a third, 35%, agreed that the government should be allowed to deny license plates to a group that intends to display a Confederate flag on them. The majority, 56%, opposed the government’s right to deny the plates.