Some people think that everyone deserves good lawyers, and if the lawyer does a poor job, the trial isn’t fair. The controversy comes from deciding how much the government should step in to fix these types of cases.

Students do not have a First Amendment Right to make obscene speeches in school.

A student, Mathew Fraser, made an obscene and provocative speech at his school when nominating one of his classmates for an election. This resulted in his suspension for 3 days. However, the Supreme Court held that his rights were not violated.

Engel v. Vital

School-initiated prayer in the public school system violates the First Amendment.

The New York school system began each day with a prayer about God. This action was challenged in Court as a violation of the First Amendment. The Supreme Court decided that the government could not sponsor such religious activities.

A New York law required public schools to begin each day with the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer. Students could opt out, but a parent sued, arguing the law violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment.

The Supreme Court held that reciting government-written prayers in public schools was unconstitutional, violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

The District of Colombia banned keeping guns in homes and said any gun that was in a home had to be non-functioning. Dick Anthony Heller argued that not allowing guns in the home was unconstitutional, and sued the District of Columbia. He won because he argued that it was unconstitutional to not allow working guns for defense on personal property (homes).