CENSORSHIP AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT: THE AMERICAN CITIZEN'S RIGHT TO FR

864 WD

Are we protected from censorship under the First Amendment? In other words do individuals or groups have the right or the power to examine material and remove or prohibit anything they consider objectionable? This argument has been progressing for centuries, in fact the first notable case was against John

Peter Zenger, in 1743. Zenger was an editor of a New York colonial newspaper that often published articles critical of the colonial governor. He successfully argued that publishing the truth should be a defense and thus defied the conventional wisdom and ended colonial intrusion into freedom of the press (Harer 21). Since that case, the progression through time has expanded matters to the complicated issues we see today. The founders of the United