# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Skip to Main Content

Use these websites to gather background information and gain insight into controversial topics. These are great resources to use for building a keyword list and gathering questions about your controversial topic.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Research Guides: Find Opposing Views (Pros and Cons): Pro-Con Websites

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A guide for finding opposing views designed and created by Clark Librarians

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
10 tips for talking about news, politics and current events in schools

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In schools everywhere, students are deeply affected by current events. Certain policy changes and related commentary can cause children to experience fear, confusion and anxiety. For example, some…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Have you mispronounced someone’s name? Here’s what to do next

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Most of us have stumbled when saying an unfamiliar name. That’s natural, but it’s what we do afterwards that really matters, says writer Gerardo Ochoa. Do you remember being in 5th grade? I’ll neve…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Can US Customs and Border officials search your phone?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Recent detentions and seizures of phones and other material from travelers to the United States have sparked alarm. Below, ProPublica details what powers US Customs and Border Protection officials…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What’s it like to be a refugee in America? Students respond

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
What is it like to be a refugee? Or the child of refugees? The students in Room 18 at Lexington Middle School can tell you firsthand. In the TEDxKids@ElCajon video featured below, children from one…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Access provided by ROCHESTER COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Auto industry puts more women in the engineering driver’s seat

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Women have input in 80 percent of all car buying decisions. But they are the most unhappy with automotive products, an auto advice website says. More female engineers could change that.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | Instructional Content Platform

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
TED-Ed celebrates the ideas of teachers and students around the world. Discover hundreds of animated lessons, create customized lessons, and share your big ideas.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The 4 greatest threats to the survival of humanity

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
There are five primary groups of chemotherapy medications: alkylating agents, plant alkaloids, antitumor antibiotics, antimetabolites, and topoisomerase inhibitors.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
There are many types of cancer treatment. The types of treatment that you have will depend on the type of cancer you have and how advanced it is. Some people with cancer will have only one treatment. But most people have a combination of treatments, such as surgery with chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. You may also have immunotherapy, targeted therapy, or hormone therapy.

Clinical trials might also be an option for you. Clinical trials are research studies that involve people. Understanding what they are and how they work can help you decide if taking part in a trial is a good option for you.

When you need treatment for cancer, you have a lot to learn and think about. It is normal to feel overwhelmed and confused. But, talking with your doctor and learning all you can about all your treatment options, including clinical trials, can help you make a decision you feel good about. Our Questions to Ask Your Doctor About Treatment may help.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
There are many types of cancer treatment. The types of treatment that you have will depend on the type of cancer you have and how advanced it is. Some people with cancer will have only one treatment. But most people have a combination of treatments, such as surgery with chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How does chemotherapy work? - Hyunsoo Joshua No

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Following on the heels of President Donald Trump's inauguration this Friday, at least 3.3 million Americans gathered for marches around the country, rallying behind calls for a Women's March on Washington-though the rallies ultimately spready to many cities worldwide. In Washington, D.C., alone, crowd estimates were around 500,000, with protestors calling for gender equality, protection for immigrants, minority and LGBTQ rights and access to women's health services.

But it wasn't the first time huge crowds of women turned out to make demands of the government. On March 3, 1913, one day before the inauguration of Woodrow Wilson, more than 5,000 women descended on Washington to fight for the vote. Some came on foot, some on horseback, some in wagons. There were costumes and placards and about half-a-million spectators lined the streets. Among the marchers were journalist Nellie Bly, activist Helen Keller and actress Margaret Vale-who was also the niece of the incoming president (who was by no means an ally of the suffrage movement; he once said women who spoke in public gave him a "chilled, scandalized feeling"). Despite being heckled and harassed by the crowd, the march was enormously memorable; six years later Congress passed the 19th Amendment, extending the franchise to women nationwide.

With the approach of another march on Washington led by women, delve into some of the forgotten members of the original Women's March. From young "militants" who learned their tactics from British suffragists to African-American activists who fought their battle on multiple fronts, these women prove that asking for respect often isn't enough. As Sojourner Truth said, "If women want any rights more than they's got, why don't they just take them, and not be talking about it?"
Inez Milholland
Suffragist, pacifist, war correspondent and aristocrat, Inez Milholland's reputation as a beauty was matched by her tenacity. Raised in New York and London, Milholland made an early name for herself in suffrage circles by yelling "Votes for Women" through a megaphone out of an upper-story window during a campaign parade for President Taft in 1908. After graduating from Vassar in 1905, she applied to graduate school and was rejected by several Ivy League universities on the basis of her sex, before finally gaining admission to New York University to study law. She used the degree to push for labor reform and workers' rights.

Milholland was at the very head of the suffrage march, dressed in a long cape and riding a white horse. She made a striking figure and proved suffragists could be young and beautiful at a time " when suffragists were derided for being unfeminine and lacking respectability." After the march, Milholland continued to advocate for women's rights until her untimely death in 1916 at age 30, where she collapsed onstage at a suffrage event in Los Angeles. The last words of the speech: "Mr. President, how long must women wait for liberty?"
Lucy Burns
In a meeting that seemed almost pre-ordained, the Brooklyn-born Lucy Burns encountered suffragist Alice Paul at a London police station, having both been arrested for protesting. The two began talking after Paul noticed Burns was wearing an American flag pin, and they commiserated over America's lackluster suffrage movement compared to the more aggressive British campaign for the vote. The two went on to organize the Women's Suffrage March of 1913 together.

Burns was also the founder of the National Woman's Party, a militant wing of the movement that borrowed techniques Burns had learned in London, including hunger strikes, violent clashes with authorities and jail sentences. She would ultimately spend more time in prison than any other suffragist. But she gave up her career in aggressive activism in 1920, after the women's vote had been secured, and spent the rest of her life working for the Catholic Church.
Dora Lewis
Like Lucy Burns, Dora Lewis wasn't one to shy away from confrontation or jail time. The wealthy widow from Philadelphia was one of Alice Paul's earliest supporters, and served on multiple executive committees of the National Woman's Party. In November 1917, while protesting the imprisonment of Alice Paul, Lewis and other suffragists were arrested and sentenced to 60 days in the notorious Occoquan Workhouse. Lewis and other inmates staged a hunger strike, demanding to be recognized as political prisoners, but their strike quickly turned horrific when the guards began beating the women. In what would later be called the "Night of Terror," Lewis and others were handcuffed and force-fed with tubes pushed into their noses. Lewis described herself as "gasping and suffocating with the agony of it" and said "everything turned black when the fluid began pouring in." Despite her traumatic experiences at the prison, Lewis stayed active in the movement until the right to vote was secured.
Mary Church Terrell
Born to former slaves in Memphis, Tennessee, Mary Church Terrell was a woman of many firsts. She studied at Oberlin College in Ohio, becoming one of the first African-American women to earn a college degree in 1884. She went on to earn her master's and then became the first African-American woman appointed to a school board. Her husband, an attorney named Robert Heberton Terrell, was Washington, D.C.'s first African-American municipal judge.

But for all her accomplishments, Terrell struggled with participating in national women's organizations, which often excluded African-American women. At a speech before the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) in 1904, Terrell demanded, "My sisters of the dominant race, stand up not only for the oppressed sex, but also for the oppressed race!" Terrell continued her work long after the march, becoming a charter member of the NAACP and helping to end segregation in restaurants of Washington by suing a restaurant that refused to provide service to African-American customers.
Ida B. Wells
Like Mary Church Terrell, Ida Wells combined her suffragist activities with civil rights. Early in her career as an activist she successfully sued the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad company for forcibly removing her from the first-class area to the colored car; the Tennessee Supreme Court reversed her victory shortly thereafter, in April 1887. She worked mainly as a journalist under the penname "Iola," writing editorials on poverty, disenfranchisement and violence against African-Americans. In 1892, one of her friends was lynched after defending his store from attack, and in her grief and anger she turned her pen to lynchings.

At the 1913 march, Wells and other African-American women were told they would be segregated from the main group, and would march at the end. Wells refused, waiting until the procession started and then joining the block of women that represented her state.
Katherine McCormick
Though intensely active in the women's suffrage movement (at times serving as treasurer and vice president of NAWSA), Katherine McCormick's legacy stretches far beyond the right to vote. The Chicago native saw her father die from a fatal heart attack when she was only 14, and her brother died of spinal meningitis when she was 19, prompting her to study biology. She enrolled in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earned her B.S. in biology in 1904, after sparring with the administration over her refusal to wear a hat in the lab (hats were required for women), saying it posed a fire hazard. Many years later, McCormick donated a chunk of her inheritance to MIT so they could build female dormitories and boost women's enrollment.

McCormick was also a key player in the creation of the birth control pill. After meeting with scientist Gregory Pincus in 1953 to discuss creating an oral contraceptive, she began making annual contributions of over $100,000 to help with the cost of research. She also smuggled illegal diaphragms in from Europe so they could be distributed at women's health clinics. Her contributions proved invaluable, and the birth control pill came on the market in 1960. When McCormick died in 1967 she proved her dedication to women's rights, leaving $5 million to Planned Parenthood.
Elizabeth Freeman
Like other suffragists who spent time in England, Elizabeth Freeman was galvanized by repeat encounters with law enforcement and multiple arrests. She turned the difficult experiences into fodder for speeches and pamphlets, working with suffrage organizations around the United States to help them gain more media attention. Freeman was a master of manipulating public spaces for publicity, such as speaking between rounds of prize fights or at the movies. In the summer of 1912 she campaigned through Ohio, driving a wagon and stopping in every town along her route to pass out literature and speak to curious onlookers. She employed this same technique at the march. Dressed as a gypsy, she drove her wagon past the crowds, trying, as always, to engage her audience.
Crystal Eastman
Crystal Eastman, another Vassar graduate like Lucy Burns, spent most of her life fighting for women's rights, long after they attained the right to vote. She also participated in labor activism (writing a study called " Work Accidents and the Law" that helped in the creation of workers' compensation laws) and chaired the New York branch of the Woman's Peace Party. Eastman organized a feminist Congress in 1919 to demand equal employment and birth control, and following the ratification of the 19th Amendment, Eastman wrote an essay titled "Now We Can Begin." It outlined the need to organize the world so women would have " a chance to exercise their infinitely varied gifts in infinitely varied ways, instead of being destined by the accident of their sex." The essay still resonates today in its call for gender equality in the home, financial support for motherhood, female economic independence and voluntary motherhood.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Original Women's March on Washington and the Suffragists Who Paved the Way

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Following on the heels of President Donald Trump's inauguration this Friday, at least 3.3 million Americans gathered for marches around the country, rallying behind calls for a Women's March on Washington-though the rallies ultimately spready to many cities worldwide.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The historic women’s suffrage march on Washington - Michelle Mehrtens

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The War on Drugs: Crash Course Black American History #42

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The War on Drugs turns 50 today. It’s time to make peace. - The Washington Post

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Essential Question

How does our criminal justice system fuel and perpetuate mass incarceration?

Big Idea

Mass incarceration is fueled by a highly funded and minimally constrained criminal justice system that traps people branded as "criminals," even individuals without a criminal record, into a permanent undercaste.

Objectives

Students will compare the public perception of the criminal justice system (including common misperceptions) with the reality of law enforcement practices in the War on Drugs.

Students will identify specific aspects of the criminal justice system that undermine civil liberties.

Students will explain the ways in which state and federal governments have strengthened the power of law enforcement agencies since the 1980s.

Students will evaluate the degree of justice and fairness delivered by our current criminal justice system as it pertains to drug-related offenses.

Required Materials

Optional Materials

Tier II and III Vocabulary

Warm Up

Write the prompt (below) on the board and allow students time to quietly and independently respond in writing. If you have a journal procedure, use it here. Allow time for sharing and discussion.

Complete the prompts "Something I know ... ", "Something I believe ... " and "Something I wonder ... " about each of the following (totaling nine responses):

1. the criminal justice system

2. the prison system

3. the War on Drugs

Before Reading

Prepare students for thinking about the themes and topics in the excerpt " The Lockdown" with the strategies below.

The Anticipation Guide includes a list of statements that students engage with before reading the excerpt. Encourage them to note their gut responses and beliefs in the first column. (Students will return to this guide during the closing activity.)

Text Graffiti exposes students to short pieces of the text prior to having them read the full excerpt. Students read selected quotes out of context, silently comment on the quote and then respond to their peers' comments.

During Reading
Engage students in a close reading of the excerpt. Use the text-dependent questions provided to build comprehension through textual analysis, or create your own to develop this thinking habit among students.

1. First Read. Have students read the excerpt independently and silently, marking the text with Thinking notes. Thinking notes are annotations (highlights, underlines or symbols) that students make to document their thinking during reading.

2. Second Read. Facilitate a Shared Reading of the excerpt.

You can modify shared reading for partner or paired readers with a Say Something activity, during which students take turns reading aloud to each other, stopping occasionally to comment on or question the text.
Facilitate a class discussion that centers on asking and answering the text-dependent questions, including student-created questions. Discussions can be structured in a number of ways. Here are three suggestions:
After Reading

Text Talk Time is a whole class discussion structured to facilitate rich dialogue, active listening and use of textual evidence. The group setting challenges students to analyze The New Jim Crow through collaborative discussion and gives students an opportunity to practice answering questions they may later be asked to write about.

Fishbowl is an engaging and student-centered strategy that builds comprehension while developing group discussion skills. In the inner circle, or fishbowl, students have a text-based discussion and practice responding to multiple points of view; students in the outer circle listen to the discussion and take notes.

Socratic Seminar is an inquiry-driven discussion in which students examine issues and respond to open-ended questions about the themes and topics in a text. Using dialogue rather than debate to communicate, students listen attentively and respond civilly. But they are also expected to think critically, make persuasive claims and counterclaims and generate questions supported by evidence.

Closing Activity

Have students return to the Anticipation Guide. In this guide, they responded to statements (before reading), sharing their gut responses and beliefs.

Ask students to re-examine the same statements, this time through Alexander's lens. Challenge students to identify her position on each statement-by writing true/false; agree/disagree in the second column. Ask them to provide textual evidence from "The Lockdown" in the third column to substantiate their response.

Lastly, have students reflect on how their views may have changed after reading the excerpt and reflecting on Alexander's perspective. (Have them complete the fourth column.)

Exit Ticket

Have students return to their "I know ... , I wonder ... , I believe ... " responses from the Warm Up.

1. Has anything you thought you knew changed? Explain.

2. Have any of your beliefs changed? Explain.

3. Were any of the things you wondered about answered? Explain.

4. What new questions do you have?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Mass incarceration is fueled by a highly funded and minimally constrained criminal justice system that traps people branded as "criminals," even individuals without a criminal record, into a permanent undercaste.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to recognize a substance use disorder

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Addiction can happen to anyone, but we now know more than ever about how drugs work in the brain. We also know that addiction can be successfully treated.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | Instructional Content Platform

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A drug is a substance that changes the way a person's body works. Medical drugs can ease the symptoms of illnesses and fight diseases. Some people also use certain kinds of...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Current events ready to go for students grades 6-12! Lessons based on the PBS NewsHour with focus on civics, social studies, ELA, science, art, and media literacy.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Firearms are a significant cause of injury and death in the United States. Studies have shown that 1 in 3 homes with guns also have children in the home. Unfortunately, firearm injuries are among the top four causes of death for children ages 10-24, with homicide by firearm being a leading cause of death in children ages 1-9. The Michigan community has tragically suffered from gun violence with the shooting at Oxford High School in November of 2021.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) believes that "The absence of guns from children's homes and communities is the most reliable and effective measure to prevent firearm-related injuries in children and adolescents."

Current medical research on the subject has concluded that if you have children, it is safer not to have a gun in your home. The American Surgical Association (APSA) notes that there had been a reduction in motor vehicle deaths due to a multidimensional public health approach. They believe a similar public health approach to gun safety could help reduce the number of children who are injured or have died from firearms.

For families who choose to keep guns in the home, there are steps that can be taken to reduce the risk of firearm injury or death.

Gun storage

For those who keep a gun in the home, each of the following four measures helps protect children and teens from accidental firearm injury and suicide:

Keep the gun unloaded

Keep the gun locked

Store the ammunition locked and in a separate place from the gun

Never let children know where the keys are located

Children, even older children, should not be told about the location of the keys.

There are programs available for free safety kits. Another option is to disassemble the gun so that it cannot be used (i.e. remove the bolt from hunting rifle or pistol slide on a handgun).

If there are concerns about mental illness, then it is safest to remove all firearms from the home to prevent any tragedies.

Guns at homes of others

Before your child goes to a friend's house you should ask the friend's parent whether the family has firearms in the house and how they are stored. This can be part of all the usual things you would discuss before a visit, like allergies, snacks, sunscreen, etc. The AAP offers suggestions on questions families should ask at Asking Saves Kids (ASK).

If your friends or family keep a firearm, urge them to keep it locked and unloaded.

Adolescents, Teens and Guns

Parents of teenagers are less likely to store firearms safely. This is a big concern since most firearm injuries happen to teens. Teens are at greater risk of attempting suicide and a suicide attempt with a gun is likely to be deadly. More than 90 percent of suicide attempts with a gun are deadly and teens in homes with firearms are at higher risk for committing suicide. Again, if there are concerns about mental illness, then it is safest to remove all firearms from the home to prevent any tragedies.

Teaching children about what to do in the presence of a gun

Teach your children never to touch guns. Parents can also talk about how a child might ask to go home or call a parent if they become aware of a gun in their presence.

Unfortunately, a number of studies suggest that even kids who are trained not to touch guns can't resist the curiosity, and that parents have unrealistic expectations about their kids' behavior around guns. That's why parents are encouraged to keep guns unloaded and locked separately from ammunition, and to ask about guns at the houses where their children play.

Non-powder guns, BB guns and toy guns

Non-powder guns such as ball-bearing (BB) guns, pellet guns, air rifles, and paintball guns can cause serious injuries to children and teens.

Pellet and BB guns are high powered and can easily injure or kill a child. They should be used only under adult supervision. The Consumer Products Safety Commission recommends only kids 16 years of age or older use BB guns.

Parents may underestimate the potential for injury from BB and pellet guns unless their child has been wounded by one.

Playing with toy guns could make it easier for your child to mistake a real gun as a toy.

Police officers may also mistake a toy gun for a real gun. Toy guns should not look like real guns and should always retain the orange cap on the barrel.

Toy guns with projectiles, such as Airsoft guns and paintball guns, can cause eye injuries, including severe and permanent vision loss. Kids should wear eye protection when using them.

Make sure the firing sound is not too loud as it could damage your child's hearing. Children should wear hearing protection. Don't let kids fire cap guns closer than one foot from their ears, and only use them outdoors.

Don't let kids put caps from toy guns in their pockets. They can ignite and cause burn injuries.

Additional resources:

Updated by Andrew Jones, MD
Reviewed by Sara Laule, MD

Updated by Sydney Ryckman MD, January 2022

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Firearms are a significant cause of injury and death in the United States. Studies have shown that 1 in 3 homes with guns also have children in the home...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
245 Americans across the political divide share their views — and try to find common ground

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Tougher Gun Laws Mean Fewer American Kids Die, Study Says

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
States with stricter gun control laws had 4% fewer pediatric deaths

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The United States has the highest rate of gun-related deaths among developed countries. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), guns are the leading cause of death for children and teens in the United States. Being able to easily get guns

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Online Learning | Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Science of Firearm Safety Among Children & Teens Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Gun Control Act | Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Gun Control Act of 1968 This Legislation regulated interstate and foreign commerce in firearms, including importation, “prohibited persons”, and licensing provisions. Assassinations and Gun Control After the assassinations of President John Kennedy, Attorney General Robert Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Gun Control Act is passed and imposes stricter licensing and

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Gun Control Act | Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Gun Control Act of 1968 This Legislation regulated interstate and foreign commerce in firearms, including importation, “prohibited persons”, and licensing provisions. Assassinations and Gun Control After the assassinations of President John Kennedy, Attorney General Robert Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Gun Control Act is passed and imposes stricter licensing and

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The philosopher Alexander Meiklejohn (1872-1964), a passionate advocate for free speech, wrote extensively on both educational theory and the First Amendment.

Meiklejohn said First Amendment's allowed debate in order to make informed choices

He argued that the First Amendment's primary purpose is to ensure that voters are free to engage in uninhibited debate and discussion in order to make informed choices about their self-government. His theories were influential in his time and are still widely discussed today.

Born in England, Meiklejohn moved with his family to Rhode Island when he was a child. After earning two degrees from Brown University, he received a Ph.D. in philosophy from Cornell in 1897. He was hired as a philosophy teacher at Brown and in 1901 was named dean of the university. He served as president of Amherst College from 1913 to 1924. He then founded an experimental college at the University of Wisconsin, where he was a professor, and in 1938 moved to the San Francisco School of Social Studies.

Meiklejohn also served for many years on the national committee of the American Civil Liberties Union. In 1963 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Meiklejohn said self-governance is the justification for free speech

The core of Meiklejohn's understanding of the First Amendment is that a commitment to self-governance is the bedrock principle that justifies freedom of speech.

As he wrote in "The First Amendment Is an Absolute" (Supreme Court Review [1961]), Meiklejohn believed that the "revolutionary intent of the First Amendment" was to "deny to all subordinate agencies," such as Congress or the president, any "authority to abridge the freedom of the electoral power of the people."

In "What Does the First Amendment Mean" (University of Chicago Law Review 20 [Spring 1953]), he explained further that the First Amendment guarantees the political freedom of the people of the United States by ensuring that they are presented with open discussions of all issues, even from unpopular viewpoints. The value in free speech, therefore, is that it produces informed voters.

Critics say focus on promoting democracy undervalued non-political expression

Critics believe that Meiklejohn's focus on the role of the First Amendment in promoting democracy undervalues speech and expression that is unrelated to politics.

Meiklejohn argued that speech that was related to self-government was protected by the First Amendment, while private expressions that did not deal with matters of public concern were protected only by the Fifth Amendment's due process clause.

Critics argue that such a division is unjustified by the text of the Constitution and that such an understanding fails to protect art or other forms of self-expression. Meiklejohn attempted to counter such criticism by arguing that voters are informed by an extremely wide range of expressions, including literature and the arts.
This article was originally published in 2009. Professor Dara E. Purvis is a scholar of family law, contracts, feminist legal theory, and sexuality and the law. She is particularly interested in the intersection between gender stereotypes and the law. Her work examines gendered impacts of the law and proposes neutralizing reforms, most recently in the context of how the law defines parenthood.
Send Feedback on this article

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Alexander Meiklejohn argued that the First Amendment's primary purpose is to ensure that voters are free to debate in order to make informed choices about their self-government.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What space does to your body_ Swollen heads, shrunken legs, round hearts - Washington Post

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Space tourism is the new adventure for the super wealthy - The Washington Post

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Opinion _ No, human space exploration is not a dead end - The Washington Post

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
NASA doesn't pick the astronauts in a commercialized space future - The Washington Post

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How NASA plans to change moon landings with Blue Origin’s help - Washington Post

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Americans’ complicated relationship with space travel - The Washington Post

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The many, many reasons space travel is bad for the human body

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Humans evolved in conditions of plentiful gravity and relatively little radiation. Space is the reverse — and it upends almost every system inside of us.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In the 50 years since the moon landing, humanity has made tremendous leaps in technology. But how close are we to turning our sci-fi aspirations—from space colonies to asteroid mining—into reality? (Partner content)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The United States spent $28 billion to land men on the Moon between 1960 and 1973, or approximately $280 billion when adjusted for inflation. Spending peaked in 1966, three years before the first Moon landing. The total amount spent on NASA during this period was $49.4 billion ($482 billion adjusted).

These data were compiled from original budget justification documents provided by the NASA Historical Reference Collection at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Inflation represents 2020 dollars adjusted using NASA's New Start Index (NNSI) for aerospace projects. Source data available as a Google spreadsheet or an Excel spreadsheet

Comprehensive Project Apollo cost data, non-inflation adjusted dollar amounts, program-by-program cost breakdowns, construction costs, and relative GDP adjustments are available in this Google Spreadsheet or as a downloadable Excel spreadsheet.

Apollo and NASA

NASA considered plans for a crewed lunar landing as early as 1959 and pursued early concept studies in 1960. These early studies allowed the space agency to respond quickly and affirmatively to President Kennedy's inquiry in April 1961, when he asked if "we have a chance of beating the Soviets...to go to the moon and back with a man" and to provide the nation with a "space program which promises dramatic results in which we could win".

The national priority of Project Apollo is clear from the following charts. In 13 years, the United States spent the equivalent of $283 billion to build a human lunar program from scratch. During this period, 3 out of every 5 dollars for the space program went toward Apollo and related programs. This spending proved unsustainable. NASA's budget fell dramatically from its peak in the mid-1960s, and though it flattened out as it entered the 1970s, Apollo spending continued to decline. After billions of dollars and 6 successful lunar landings, the United States ended support for the program. NASA's official budget proposal in 1973 stated simply that "the planned objectives of the Apollo program have been accomplished. FY 1974 funding is not required."

Apollo and Related Programs Cost Per Year

The chart below displays the costs of major programs within Project Apollo. It is easy to see that the two largest expenditures were for the Saturn family of launch vehicles and the spacecraft that would ride atop them. Both express the classic project development "cost curve" shape of their spending profiles, in which costs peak in advance of the program activity itself (in this case, before landing on the Moon). The overall cost of the project declines as work shifts from research and development into production and operations. Absent healthy early funding in space projects, hard problems remain unsolved, deadlines are missed, and overall costs increase. This chart shows that Project Apollo had the money it needed when it needed it, which helped ensure the success of the endeavor. Few NASA programs since have enjoyed that luxury, and as a consequence, failed to adhere to their original schedules.

Command and Service Module (CSM)

NASA spent $3.8 billion on the Command and Service Module (CSM), or approximately $38 billion in 2020 dollars.

Lunar Module (LM)

NASA spent $2.4 billion on the lunar module (LM), or approximately $23 billion in 2020 dollars.

Saturn Launch Vehicles

The United States spent $9.4 billion ($96 billion adjusted) on the Saturn family of rockets. This includes $864 million ($10 billion adjusted) on the Saturn I, $1.1 billion ($11 billion adjusted) on the Saturn IB, $6.6 billion ($66 billion adjusted) on the Saturn V, and $880 million ($9 billion adjusted) on related engine development.

The final Saturn V rocket launched Skylab in 1973. The final Saturn IB launched the final Apollo CSM on the Apollo-Soyuz project in 1975.

Sources

"Reconstructing the Cost of the One Giant Leap" discusses the sources, methods, and motivation of this project.

Nearly all cost data are from public NASA budget submissions covering the fiscal years (FYs) 1961 - 1974, which list obligations (contracted spending amounts) for the fiscal year 2 years previous. For example, the FY 1969 budget justification lists obligated program amounts in FY 1967. NASA Headquarters' Historical Reference Collection digitized these budget documents, which The Planetary Society has made available for download. Exceptions are listed below.

Tracking and Data Acquisition Research & Development, Construction of Facilities, Facilities Operations & Salaries, FYs 1961 - 1968: "Manned Lunar Landing Program, Code B Official Assessment." Undated, but likely 1969. Budget Operations Division. Record Number 18194. Box 1. NASA HQ Historical Reference Collection. Washington, D.C.

Tracking and Data Acquisition Research & Development, Construction of Facilities, Facilities Operations & Salaries, FYs 1969 - 1973: "Lunar Landing and Lunar Exploration Program Cost Summary." Dated 2/27/1973. Budget Operations Division. Record Number 18194. Box 1. NASA HQ Historical Reference Collection. Washington, D.C.

Project Gemini and robotic lunar program: Van Nimmen, Jane and Leonard Bruno. "NASA Historical Data Book, 1958 - 1968 Vol 1: NASA Resources." NASA Historical Series. Washington, D.C. 1976.

Inflation adjustments: 2020 NASA New Start Index (NNSI) [Excel Spreadsheet].

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The United States spent $28 billion to land men on the Moon between 1960 and 1973, or approximately $280 billion when adjusted for inflation. Spending peaked in 1966, three years before the first Moon landing. The total amount spent on NASA during this period was $49.4 billion ($482 billion adjusted).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The cost of the International Space Station, including development, assembly and running costs over 10 years, comes to €100 billion. High technology on the space frontier is not cheap.

The good news is that it comes cheaper than you might think. That €100 billion figure is shared over a period of almost 30 years between all participants: the United States, Russia, Canada, Japan and 10 of the 20 European nations who are part of ESA. The European share, at around €8 billion spread over the whole programme, amounts to just one Euro spent by every European every year: less than the price of a cup of coffee in most of our big cities.

Just that €1 has made it possible to develop and assemble in the Space Station, to build the ground infrastructure and to operate and use the Station for world-class research for more than 10 years. All this while generating high-tech jobs in European industry and research institutions, contributing to the build up of Europe as a peaceful knowledge and information society, and to the greatest international cooperative project ever undertaken.

The 10 ESA Member States participating in the International Space Station programme are: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The cost of the International Space Station, including development, assembly and running costs over 10 years, comes to €100 billion. High technology on the space frontier is not cheap. The good news is that it comes cheaper than you might think.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How expensive is it to keep the ISS up and running? - Marketplace

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Two NASA astronauts remain on the International Space Station as Boeing works through issues with its Starliner spaceship. That isn’t cheap.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Civil Rights Act Gave Way to Reform, but Flaws in the Language Left the Job Unfinished

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As we commemorate the anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, remember much more was left to be addressed following its passingSince the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed 60 years ago on July 2, America has experienced great strides toward attaining civil rights for all her citizens.The law established protection against discrimination in voting, commerce, employment, and programs with federal assistance. It outlawed segregation in public parks, libraries, schools, and colleges.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Q&A: Historian Compares Today’s Protests to Civil Rights Movement of ’50s and ’60s

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kevin Gaines, UVA’s Julian Bond Professor of Civil Rights and Social Justice, said the protests go beyond changing policies, also seeking to “persuade white people that they are dehumanized by white supremacy as much as black people are.”

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Eyes on the Prize | Article

Alan Jenkins is the executive director and co-founder of The Opportunity Agenda, an organization that works to expand opportunity in America through research, communications, and advocacy. His career has taken him to the Ford Foundation as Director of Human Rights; to the U.S. Department of Justice as Assistant to the Solicitor General; and to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund as Associate Counsel. In his current role he works with a range of social justice groups to expand opportunity in America.

by Alan Jenkins

What is the state of civil and human rights today? We've made a huge amount of progress but we still have a long way to go. There's very little of the kind of formal bigotry and segregation that we saw in Eyes on the Prize, but there's still a lot of discrimination in our society, unfortunately.

Addressing Inequities Today
The modern civil rights movement is working to address the less visible but very important inequities in our society. Opportunity in America should mean everyone has a fair chance to achieve his or her full potential. Our country hasn't yet fulfilled that promise.

Hurricane Katrina provides a good example. What it revealed is that there's still significant racial inequality and desperate poverty in America. A lot of that springs from discrimination from long ago that concentrated black people in the poorest neighborhoods - the neighborhoods that were most vulnerable to flooding, that are farthest from good jobs, schools and hospitals, and the hardest to get out of with transportation in an emergency. So those were the people who were hardest hit when Katrina struck. African American communities were not thought of by our government in the same way as more affluent or white communities.

The modern civil rights movement focuses on expanding opportunity so that kind of thing doesn't happen again. It's important to determine what's different now compared to the Eyes era. We've got to eradicate the more subtle manifestations of racial bias in our society that go back to those earlier times.

The Movement's Impact
The African American civil rights movement has inspired a lot of other groups that have suffered injustices. One example that we saw recently was the immigrant rights demonstrations around the country. Immigrants' assertion that "we too are America" was inspiring, and very much in the spirit of the civil rights movement. In addition, there's been, since the late Sixties, a powerful Latino civil rights movement, that included the farm workers' movement, and includes organizations like the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund, patterned on the NAACP's Legal Defense Fund. The women's rights movement was inspired in part by the African American civil rights movement. Certainly the immigrant rights movement, and the gay rights movement as well. Those are just a few examples. Dynamic people in those communities have led the movements, but the African American civil rights movement provides a powerful template for activism.

The impact of the civil rights movement has spread throughout the world. I've met with people in India - Dalits, who are the former "untouchable" caste. What's exciting is that Martin Luther Kinglearned nonviolent strategies from Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi, so it's kind of a full circle. When I traveled to India I met activists who were singing "We Shall Overcome" - the touchstone song of the American civil rights movement - in Hindi, and talked about how they had gotten inspiration from the American civil rights movement for their own struggle to achieve rights in Indian society. And there are many more examples worldwide.

Improving Our Own Communities
The first thing that people can do to improve things around them is to make sure that we live up to the promise of opportunity in our own lives. That means treating each other fairly and trying to examine our own biases. We all carry around biases and stereotypes in our heads, and that's a part of being human. But we all have an opportunity to step outside of them and make sure we're treating people the way we want to be treated.

The second thing is to be part of making our society more equal. That could mean calling up your local TV station and either complementing reporting they're doing, or asking them why they aren't doing more to expose inequality and highlight solutions. Write letters to the editor - including writing to your school newspaper - about how issues of opportunity are playing out in your community and what you can do about it.

The Implicit Association Test on race is an online test that you can take on Harvard University's Web site. It's a fascinating way to see biases you might unknowingly have. The test flashes up images of people from a variety of racial groups, and pairs them with negative and positive words. It's designed to demonstrate that everyone carries around implicit biases to some degree. It's a very interesting test. Of course, there is a difference between the Bull Connors - the hateful racists - and the rest of us, who are people of good will, but we don't always recognize the stereotypes we carry around with us.

What does implicit or subconscious bias mean for police officers who have a split second to make a decision? What does it mean for school admissions officers or others making a decision that affects someone's direction in life? The question for people to ask themselves is, if this person looked different, would I make the same decision?

Civil Rights Today
I think we're at a crossroads now for opportunity. There are some areas where we've made great progress. For example, African American women have made the most progress of any group in college attendance - a remarkable success story. But in many other areas America is in real trouble. Great inequality and discrimination still exist in our school systems, our criminal justice system, and other aspects of our lives. Research shows, for example, the need to address the employment and housing discrimination that still exist. Nearly one out of every four African Americans seeking housing experience discrimination. That's happening today. And yet there's very little written about it - people are really unaware that that's the case. We find similar levels of discrimination in employment statistics.

People interested in finding out more can read a report on our web site called The State of Opportunity in America. It explores how we're doing as a nation in achieving opportunity for all, in terms of equality, economic security, and more.

It's a very important time now for America to reinvest in that struggle for overcoming inequality and discrimination. They are really contrary to our values as a country.

Source: Jenkins, Alan. Interview by Maria Daniels, WGBH Boston, July 2006.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Civil Rights Today | American Experience | PBS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In 2006, American Expereince spoke to Alan Jenkins about the civil rights movement as it entered the twenty-first century.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Debatabase is an authoritative collection of over seven hundred debates mostly written by experienced debaters. They cover topics from the affirmative action to Zimbabwe, on all sorts of themes including politics, economics, religion, culture, science and society.

You can help the debatabase by:

Becoming a debatabase editor

Writing for the Debatabase

Getting involved in discussions on the forum

Becoming a curator for a debate

For Educators these resources provide a valuable guidance on how to lead young people through a debate. For debaters they may provide useful preparation materials and examples but the debates will be useful to everyone. Debatabase topics provide both sides of the debate rather than giving just one side of the argument as most blogs, newspapers and other articles you can find online do. We want you to make up your own mind on these important issues and believe you need both sides of the argument to make an informed choice.

The debates are however never complete, there are always more arguments to be made, improvements to existing arguments and challenges to be made. IDEA wants your help to help make both sides of the debates as strong as possible. We are also looking for volunteers to write more debates to make the Debatabase more complete.

Want to join? Contact us!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Debatabase, 700 debate motions with arguments for and against, debate topics

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Pros and Cons of Debate Topics | Britannica

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Explore pros and cons lists for debated issues presented in a non-partisan format with supporting background information, statistics, and resources.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Kids are flocking to flavored, disposable e-cigarettes, study finds - The Washington Post

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
More than 150 teens have fallen ill from vaping. Is it enough to make their peers stop_ - The Washington Post

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Youth e-cigarette use has declined since its 2019 peak, federal survey shows - The Washington Post

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Vaping Settlement by Juul Is Said to Total $1.7 Billion - The New York Times

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Synthetic Nicotine Loophole Fueling a Return to Teenage Vaping - The New York Times

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Teenage E-Cigarette Use Drops to a 10-Year Low - The New York Times

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to Quit Vaping, According to Experts - The New York Times

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
School boards around the country have taken precautions to reassure students, parents and families.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Research Databases - Rochester Hills Public Library

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Academy of Achievement brings young leaders face-to-face with the extraordinary visionaries and pioneers who have helped shape our world.

Featured Academy Member Interview

Two policemen came on the bus, and one asked me if the driver had told me to stand. He wanted to know why I didn't stand, and I told him I didn't think I should have to stand up. I asked him, why did they push us around? He said, I don't know, but the law is the law and you are under arrest.

Rosa Parks, Class of 1995

Academy of Achievement e-Textbooks on Apple Books

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Academy of Achievement | A museum of living history

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Academy of Achievement brings young leaders face-to-face with the extraordinary visionaries and pioneers who have helped shape our world.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Biography: Historical and Celebrity Profiles

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Read exclusive biographies, watch videos, and discover fascinating stories about your favorite icons, musicians, authors, and historical figures.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
DPLA provides free digital access to banned books

DPLA has launched The Banned Book Club to ensure that all readers have access to the books they want to read. The Banned Book Club makes e-book versions of banned books available to readers in locations across the United States where titles have been banned via the free Palace e-reader app.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Digital Public Library of America brings together the riches of America's libraries, archives, and museums, and makes them freely available to the world.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Guns Part 1: The Sudden Celebrity of Sir John Knight | Revisionist History | Malcolm Gladwell

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Discovery Education | Your Daily Learning Platform

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Discovery Education inspires educators to go beyond traditional learning with award-winning digital content and professional development. Learn more today!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Official website of the Smithsonian, the world's largest museum and research complex, with 19 museums, 9 research centers, and affiliates around the world.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Michigan eLibrary: School Libraries - Teen: Teen

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Michigan eLibrary: School Libraries - Teen: Teen

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Legislation designed to ease the financial burdens of Californians seeking four-year degrees has passed both chambers of the state legislature.

AB 2093 would allow low-income students pursuing a bachelor's degrees at any California community college tuition free. Two-year degree seekers are already eligible for such fee waivers through the California Promise Program.

The bill, introduced by Assembly Assistant Majority Leader Miguel Santiago, would expand the program to effectively include some students pursing bachelor's degrees from the state's community colleges.

"As a former LACCD Board of Trustees President, the nation's largest community college district, I have seen firsthand how tuition can be a deciding factor for too many people declining to pursue a higher education," said Santiago.

Santiago noted that legislation would make use of existing Promise Grant funding, offering districts the flexibility to waive fees for baccalaureate degree students, ensuring that more students can earn a four-year degree without incurring significant debt.

Los Angeles Community College District Chancellor Dr. Francisco C. Rodriguez said the legislation is a "game changer" for students and their families. He said he expects it will boost to the state's economy.

"By eliminating financial barriers and incentivizing enrollment at community colleges, AB 2093 opens doors to higher education and the economic opportunities that come with it," said Rodriguez.

Gov. Gavin Newsom will have until Sept. 30 to sign or veto the bill.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
California Legislators Pass Tuition-Free Community College Bachelor's Degree Bill

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
California legislators have passed a proposal to allow low-income students to pursue a bachelor's degree at any community college in the state with zero tuition cost.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Column: Why California should go back to free college tuition

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Before the 1970s, California offered free tuition at all public colleges. It enabled kids like me from struggling households to become the first in their families to attend college — even graduate, writes columnist George Skelton.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Scientific Importance of Free Speech

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
These are merely tools that help us to accomplish a far greater mission, which is to choose between rival narratives, in the vicious, no-holds-barred battle of ideas that we call "science".

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Number 10

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Freedom of speech, of the press, of association, of assembly and petition - this set of guarantees, protected by the First Amendment, comprises what we refer to as freedom of expression. The Supreme Court has written that this freedom is "the matrix, the indispensable condition of nearly every other form of freedom." Without it, other fundamental rights, like the right to vote, would wither and die.
But in spite of its "preferred position" in our constitutional hierarchy, the nation's commitment to freedom of expression has been tested over and over again. Especially during times of national stress, like war abroad or social upheaval at home, people exercising their First Amendment rights have been censored, fined, even jailed. Those with unpopular political ideas have always borne the brunt of government repression. It was during WWI - hardly ancient history - that a person could be jailed just for giving out anti-war leaflets. Out of those early cases, modern First Amendment law evolved. Many struggles and many cases later, ours is the most speech-protective country in the world.

The path to freedom was long and arduous. It took nearly 200 years to establish firm constitutional limits on the government's power to punish "seditious" and "subversive" speech. Many people suffered along the way, such as labor leader Eugene V. Debs, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison under the Espionage Act just for telling a rally of peaceful workers to realize they were "fit for something better than slavery and cannon fodder." Or Sidney Street, jailed in 1969 for burning an American flag on a Harlem street corner to protest the shooting of civil rights figure James Meredith. (see box)

THE FIRST AMENDMENT IGNORED

Early Americans enjoyed great freedom compared to citizens of other nations. Nevertheless, once in power, even the Constitution's framers were guilty of overstepping the First Amendment they had so recently adopted. In 1798, during the French-Indian War, Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Act, which made it a crime for anyone to publish "any false, scandalous and malicious writing" against the government. It was used by the then-dominant Federalist Party to prosecute prominent Republican newspaper editors during the late 18th century.

Throughout the 19th century, sedition, criminal anarchy and criminal conspiracy laws were used to suppress the speech of abolitionists, religious minorities, suffragists, labor organizers, and pacifists. In Virginia prior to the Civil War, for example, anyone who "by speaking or writing maintains that owners have no right of property in slaves" was subject to a one-year prison sentence.

The early 20th century was not much better. In 1912, feminist Margaret Sanger was arrested for giving a lecture on birth control. Trade union meetings were banned and courts routinely granted injunctions prohibiting strikes and other labor protests. Violators were sentenced to prison. Peaceful protesters opposing U. S. entry into World War I were jailed for expressing their opinions. In the early 1920s, many states outlawed the display of red or black flags, symbols of communism and anarchism. In 1923, author Upton Sinclair was arrested for trying to read the text of the First Amendment at a union rally. Many people were arrested merely for membership in groups regarded as "radical" by the government. It was in response to the excesses of this period that the ACLU was founded in 1920.

Free speech rights still need constant, vigilant protection. New questions arise and old ones return. Should flag burning be a crime? What about government or private censorship of works of art that touch on sensitive issues like religion or sexuality? Should the Internet be subject to any form of government control? What about punishing college students who espouse racist or sexist opinions? In answering these questions, the history and the core values of the First Amendment should be our guide.

THE SUPREME COURT AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT

During our nation's early era, the courts were almost universally hostile to political minorities' First Amendment rights; free speech issues did not even reach the Supreme Court until 1919 when, in Schenck v. U.S., the Court unanimously upheld the conviction of a Socialist Party member for mailing anti-anti-war leaflets to draft-age men. A turning point occurred a few months later in Abrams v. U.S. Although the defendant's conviction under the Espionage Act for distributing anti-war leaflets was upheld, two dissenting opinions formed the cornerstone of our modern First Amendment law. Justices Oliver Wendell Holmes and Louis D. Brandeis argued speech could only be punished if it presented "a clear and present danger" of imminent harm. Mere political advocacy, they said, was protected by the First Amendment. Eventually, these justices were able to convince a majority of the Court to adopt the "clear and present danger test."

From then on, the right to freedom of expression grew more secure - until the 1950s and McCarthyism. The Supreme Court fell prey to the witchhunt mentality of that period, seriously weakening the "clear and present danger" test by holding that speakers could be punished if they advocated overthrowing the government - even if the danger of such an occurrence were both slight and remote. As a result, many political activists were prosecuted and jailed simply for advocating communist revolution. Loyalty oath requirements for government employees were upheld; thousands of Americans lost their jobs on the basis of flimsy evidence supplied by secret witnesses.

Finally, in 1969, in Brandenberg v. Ohio, the Supreme Court struck down the conviction of a Ku Klux Klan member, and established a new standard: Speech can be suppressed only if it is intended, and likely to produce, "imminent lawless action." Otherwise, even speech that advocates violence is protected. The Brandenberg standard prevails today.

WHAT DOES "PROTECTED SPEECH" INCLUDE?

First Amendment protection is not limited to "pure speech" - books, newspapers, leaflets, and rallies. It also protects "symbolic speech" - nonverbal expression whose purpose is to communicate ideas. In its 1969 decision in Tinker v. Des Moines, the Court recognized the right of public school students to wear black armbands in protest of the Vietnam War. In 1989 (Texas v. Johnson) and again in 1990 (U.S. v. Eichman), the Court struck down government bans on "flag desecration." Other examples of protected symbolic speech include works of art, T-shirt slogans, political buttons, music lyrics and theatrical performances.

Government can limit some protected speech by imposing "time, place and manner" restrictions. This is most commonly done by requiring permits for meetings, rallies and demonstrations. But a permit cannot be unreasonably withheld, nor can it be denied based on content of the speech. That would be what is called viewpoint discrimination - and that is unconstitutional.

When a protest crosses the line from speech to action, the government can intervene more aggressively. Political protesters have the right to picket, to distribute literature, to chant and to engage passersby in debate. But they do not have the right to block building entrances or to physically harass people.

FREE SPEECH FOR HATEMONGERS?

The ACLU has often been at the center of controversy for defending the free speech rights of groups that spew hate, such as the Ku Klux Klan and the Nazis. But if only popular ideas were protected, we wouldn't need a First Amendment. History teaches that the first target of government repression is never the last. If we do not come to the defense of the free speech rights of the most unpopular among us, even if their views are antithetical to the very freedom the First Amendment stands for, then no one's liberty will be secure. In that sense, all First Amendment rights are "indivisible."

Censoring so-called hate speech also runs counter to the long-term interests of the most frequent victims of hate: racial, ethnic, religious and sexual minorities. We should not give the government the power to decide which opinions are hateful, for history has taught us that government is more apt to use this power to prosecute minorities than to protect them. As one federal judge has put it, tolerating hateful speech is "the best protection we have against any Nazi-type regime in this country."

At the same time, freedom of speech does not prevent punishing conduct that intimidates, harasses, or threatens another person, even if words are used. Threatening phone calls, for example, are not constitutionally protected.

SPEECH & NATIONAL SECURITY

The Supreme Court has recognized the government's interest in keeping some information secret, such as wartime troop deployments. But the Court has never actually upheld an injunction against speech on national security grounds. Two lessons can be learned from this historical fact. First, the amount of speech that can be curtailed in the interest of national security is very limited. And second, the government has historically overused the concept of "national security" to shield itself from criticism, and to discourage public discussion of controversial policies or decisions.

In 1971, the publication of the "Pentagon Papers" by the New York Times brought the conflicting claims of free speech and national security to a head. The Pentagon Papers, a voluminous secret history and analysis of the country's involvement in Vietnam, was leaked to the press. When the Times ignored the government's demand that it cease publication, the stage was set for a Supreme Court decision. In the landmark U.S. v. New York Times case, the Court ruled that the government could not, through "prior restraint," block publication of any material unless it could prove that it would "surely" result in "direct, immediate, and irreparable" harm to the nation. This the government failed to prove, and the public was given access to vital information about an issue of enormous importance.

The public's First Amendment "right to know" is essential to its ability to fully participate in democratic decision-making. As the Pentagon Papers case demonstrates, the government's claims of "national security" must always be closely scrutinized to make sure they are valid.

UNPROTECTED EXPRESSION

The Supreme Court has recognized several limited exceptions to First Amendment protection.

In Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942), the Court held that so-called "fighting words ... which by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace," are not protected. This decision was based on the fact that fighting words are of "slight social value as a step to truth."

In New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964), the Court held that defamatory falsehoods about public officials can be punished - only if the offended official can prove the falsehoods were published with "actual malice," i.e.: "knowledge that the statement was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not." Other kinds of "libelous statements" are also punishable.

Legally "obscene" material has historically been excluded from First Amendment protection. Unfortunately, the relatively narrow obscenity exception, described below, has been abused by government authorities and private pressure groups. Sexual expression in art and entertainment is, and has historically been, the most frequent target of censorship crusades, from James Joyce's classic Ulysses to the photographs of Robert Mapplethorpe.

In the 1973 Miller v. California decision, the Court established three conditions that must be present if a work is to be deemed "legally obscene." It must 1) appeal to the average person's prurient (shameful, morbid) interest in sex; 2) depict sexual conduct in a "patently offensive way" as defined by community standards; and 3) taken as a whole, lack serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value. Attempts to apply the "Miller test" have demonstrated the impossibility of formulating a precise definition of obscenity. Justice Potter Stewart once delivered a famous one-liner on the subject: "I know it when I see it." But the fact is, the obscenity exception to the First Amendment is highly subjective and practically invites government abuse.

THREE REASONS WHY
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IS
ESSENTIAL TO A FREE SOCIETY

It's the foundation of self-fulfillment. The right to express one's thoughts and to communicate freely with others affirms the dignity and worth of each and every member of society, and allows each individual to realize his or her full human potential. Thus, freedom of expression is an end in itself - and as such, deserves society's greatest protection.

It's vital to the attainment and advancement of knowledge, and the search for the truth. The eminent 19th-century writer and civil libertarian, John Stuart Mill, contended that enlightened judgment is possible only if one considers all facts and ideas, from whatever source, and tests one's own conclusions against opposing views. Therefore, all points of view - even those that are "bad" or socially harmful - should be represented in society's "marketplace of ideas."

It's necessary to our system of self-government and gives the American people a "checking function" against government excess and corruption. If the American people are to be the masters of their fate and of their elected government, they must be well-informed and have access to all information, ideas and points of view. Mass ignorance is a breeding ground for oppression and tyranny.

THE ACLU: ONGOING CHAMPION OF FREE EXPRESSION

The American Civil Liberties Union has been involved in virtually all of the landmark First Amendment cases to reach the U.S. Supreme Court, and remains absolutely committed to the preservation of each and every individual's freedom of expression. During the 1980s, we defended the right of artists and entertainers to perform and produce works of art free of government and private censorship. During the 1990s, the organization fought to protect free speech in cyberspace when state and federal government attempted to impose content-based regulations on the Internet. In addition, the ACLU offers several books on the subject of freedom of expression:

RESOURCES: Ira Glasser, Visions of Liberty, Arcade, 1991. J. Gora, D. Goldberger, G. Stern, M. Halperin, The Right to Protest: The Basic ACLU Guide to Free Expression, SIU Press, 1991. Franklin Haiman, "Speech Acts" and the First Amendment 1993, SIU Press, 1993. Nadine Strossen, Defending Pornography: Free Speech, Sex and the Fight for Women's Rights, Anchor Press, 1995.
To order call 1-800-775-ACLU

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Freedom of Expression | American Civil Liberties Union

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Number 10 FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION Freedom of speech, of the press, of association, of assembly and petition - this set of guarantees, protected by the First Amendment, comprises what we refer to as freedom of expression. The Supreme Court has written that this freedom is "the matrix, the indispensable condition of nearly every other form of freedom."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Tinker v. Des Moines: Protecting student free speech

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
On February 24, 1969, the Supreme Court ruled that students at school retain their First Amendment right to free speech.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Freedom of Speech: Crash Course Government and Politics #25

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
WASHINGTON - Incendiary rhetoric has seeped into 2016 presidential politics, surfaced in the public debate over accepting Syrian refugees into the U.S. and popped up repeatedly following terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch has expressed concern about the potential for an anti-Islam backlash similar to one that followed the Sept. 11 attacks and vowed that the Justice Department would punish "actions predicated on violent talk."

"Advocates are certainly reporting to us an increased concern around incidents, threats and potential hate crimes that they're bringing to our attention," Vanita Gupta, the head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, said in an interview with The Associated Press.

But the spectrum of hateful expression is broad, encompassing acts that are clearly illegal - such as firebombing a mosque - as well as vague and distant threats that, while noxious, might well be protected by the First Amendment.

Establishing the line between protected speech and a federal hate crime can be challenging for prosecutors and courts and depends on the facts of each particular case. Here's a look at how federal law treats hate speech:
WHAT DO FEDERAL LAWS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THIS?
The signature hate crime statute - the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act - makes it illegal to physically harm someone based on their race, religion, national origin, gender or sexual orientation, among other characteristics.
DOESN'T THE CONSTITUTION ALLOW ME TO SAY WHATEVER I WANT?
To a large degree, yes. The First Amendment offers broad free speech protections and permits membership in organizations, such as the Ku Klux Klan, that espouse hateful ideologies.

But while the Constitution gives latitude to hate speech and offensive rhetoric, court decisions in the last century have carved out notable - though narrow - exceptions to free speech guarantees and authorized prosecution for language deemed to fall out of bounds.

Comments intended as specific and immediate threats brush up against those protections, regardless of a person's race or religion. So do personal, face-to-face comments meant to incite imminent lawlessness, such as a riot.

A 1942 Supreme Court decision called Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire - which involved a Jehovah's Witness who cursed at a city marshal, calling him a "damned fascist" - articulated a "fighting words" doctrine that restricted insults intended to provoke an "immediate breach of the peace."
ARE THREATS AGAINST THE LAW?
They certainly can be, but that depends on various factors. Determining what constitutes an actual threat - as opposed to a vague and far-off remark - is a tricky, fact-specific question.

In Virginia v. Black, a seminal 2003 Supreme Court decision on cross-burning, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor described "true threats" as statements in which "the speaker means to communicate a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group of individuals."

In other words, the more specific and immediate the threat, the more likely it'll be regarded as illegal.

"It's one thing to say, 'Kill all the Jews,' versus 'Kill that Jew who was my kid's school teacher who gave him an F,'" said James Weinstein, a constitutional law professor at Arizona State University.

Justice Department officials say context matters greatly in such cases, making it hard to generalize too broadly. Hateful threats that the target interprets as a joke, or that are discussed among friends but not leveled at anyone in particular, likely would be harder to prosecute federally.

"It requires specificity, it requires intent and it requires a certain sense of imminence," Gupta said.
HOW OFTEN ARE SUCH CASES INVESTIGATED?
The FBI says local law enforcement agencies reported 5,479 hate crime incidents in 2014.

In a Dec. 3 speech to the Muslim Advocates organization, Lynch said that more than 220 defendants had been charged with hate crime offenses in the last six years. Those include a Utah man who threatened an interracial family with death and a man who admitted tying a rope around the neck of a James Meredith statue on the University of Mississippi campus.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, the attorney general said, the Justice Department has headed more than 1,000 investigations into acts of "anti-Muslim hatred" and bigoted behavior, leading to more than 45 prosecutions - including of a New York man who e-mailed death threats to an employee at the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and of a Texas man convicted in 2013 of threatening to bomb an Islamic center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Among incidents in the last two months: a caretaker at a Philadelphia mosque said he found a severed pig's head outside on the sidewalk, and CAIR, a Muslim advocacy group, reported getting a hate letter with a white powdery substance at its Washington offices.

"I think, sadly, that number is going to continue," Lynch said.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How federal law draws a line between free speech and hate crimes

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
WASHINGTON - Incendiary rhetoric has seeped into 2016 presidential politics, surfaced in the public debate over accepting Syrian refugees into the U.S. and popped up repeatedly following terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Freedom Forum's mission is to foster First Amendment freedoms for all.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Among other cherished values, the First Amendment protects freedom of speech. Learn about what this means.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Sign in to EBSCO Research Services to gain access to your library or organization's subscription of EBSCOhost Databases, Discovery Service and Explora.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
8 Medical Innovations in 2023 | AMN Healthcare

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The science of medicine rapidly evolves and 2023 will likely bring more changes in medical technology. Here’s are some healthcare technology trends for 2023.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Croup is a viral infection in the upper airway, around the vocal cords and windpipe. Swelling in this area may cause a barking cough. Croup, most often seen in the late summer and fall, usually affects young children.

What Are the Signs & Symptoms of Croup?

a barking cough

a high-pitched sound when breathing in (known as stridor)

breathing harder than usual

stuffy or runny nose

What Can I Do About Croup?

Run a hot shower to create a steam-filled bathroom where you can sit with your child for 20 minutes.

Take your child outside during cooler months for a few minutes. This may help breathing.

Use a cool-mist humidifier. Having your child breathe in the moist air will sometimes ease symptoms.

Get Medical Care If Your Child:

has trouble breathing (breathing too fast or skin between the ribs is pulling in)

has a pale or bluish color around the mouth

drools or has trouble swallowing

becomes tired easily

What Can Help Prevent Croup?

Washing hands well and often and avoiding contact with people who have respiratory infections are the best protection against the spread of viruses that cause croup.

Date reviewed: February 2021

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Croup is a viral infection that causes a telltake "barking" cough. Find out what to do if your child has croup and when to call the doctor.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
GMO food labeling has been required in the U.S. for a year. Have consumers noticed?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Genetically modified foods have been on shelves since the 1990s, but they've only required a label for the last year. The USDA says implementation and compliance with the program have been "successful," but experts suggest buyers aren't noticing the labels.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
CommonLit _ Malala Yousafzai_ A Normal Yet Powerful Girl