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Abuses by England’s King John cause a revolt by nobles, who compel him to recognize rights for both noblemen and ordinary Englishmen. This document, known as the Magna Carta, establishes the principle that no one, including the king or a lawmaker, is above the law, and establishes a framework for future documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.
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Virginia’s House of Burgesses passes the Virginia Declaration of Rights. The Virginia Declaration is the first bill of rights to be included in a state constitution in America.
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The bill of rights proposed by James Madison to the Congress on June 8, 1789, was a nearly verbatim copy of Virginia's proposal, which was a nearly verbatim copy of Mason's Master Draft
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On Dec. 15, Virginia becomes the 11th state to approve the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, thereby ratifying the Bill of Rights.
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John Adams signs the Alien & Sedition acts, which overlook the Bill of Rights to deport aliens with ties to U.S. enemies and over-punish treasonous acts. Thomas Jefferson institutes the Kentucky Resolution and James Madison issues the Virginia Resolution, granting the states the power to overrule the Alien & Sedition Acts. Congress allowed the acts to expire in 1801
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In 1836, the U.S. House of Representatives adopts gag rules preventing discussion of antislavery proposals. The House repealed the rules in 1844.
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In Patterson v. Colorado, its first free-press case, the SCOTUS determines it does not have jurisdiction to review the “contempt” conviction of U.S. senator and newspaper publisher Thomas Patterson for articles and a cartoon that criticized the state supreme court. The Court holds that the free speech and press guarantees only guard against prior restraint and do not prevent “subsequent punishment.”
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In Schenck v. U.S., U.S. Supreme Court Justice Holmes sets forth his clear-and-present-danger test. Schenck and others had been accused of urging draftees to oppose the draft and “not submit to intimidation.” Justice Holmes also writes that not all speech is protected by the First Amendment, citing the now-famous example of falsely crying “fire” in a crowded theater.
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Roger Baldwin and others start up a new organization dedicated to preserving civil liberties called the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
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Congress passes the Flag Protection Act. The act punishes anyone who “knowingly mutilates, defaces, physically defiles, burns, maintains on the floor or ground, or tramples upon any U.S. flag …”
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The U.S. Supreme Court in U.S. v. Eichman invalidates the Flag Protection Act of 1989. The Court finds that the statute violates free speech
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In Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that video games are a form of speech protected by the First Amendment. The Court holds California’s law restricting the sale or rental of violent video games to minors is unconstitutional.
