Which action is not protected by the First Amendment?
Asked by: Derek Reilly | Last update: January 7, 2026Score: 4.6/5 (69 votes)
Incitement to Imminent Lawless Action The First Amendment does not protect speech that incites people to break the law, including to commit acts of violence.
What does the 1st Amendment not protect?
The categories of unprotected speech include obscenity, child pornography, defamatory speech, false advertising, true threats, and fighting words.
Which of the following is not protected by the First Amendment?
Categories of speech that are given lesser or no protection by the First Amendment (and therefore may be restricted) include obscenity, fraud, child pornography, speech integral to illegal conduct, speech that incites imminent lawless action, speech that violates intellectual property law, true threats, false ...
Which is not included in the 1st Amendment?
The First Amendment protects protest, but not civil disobedience. The First Amendment covers all forms of communication and symbolic actions that express a viewpoint, including art, clothing, and protests. But the First Amendment does not protect acts of civil disobedience in which people break the law.
What is not supported by the First Amendment?
Whether speech is protected requires a detailed, fact specific analysis. In general, the First Amendment does not protect individuals from engaging in violence, true threats, the incitement of violence and harassment.
Freedom of Speech Exceptions: Categories of Speech NOT Protected
What threats are not protected by the First Amendment?
True threats constitute a category of speech — like obscenity, child pornography, fighting words, and the advocacy of imminent lawless action — that is not protected by the First Amendment and can be prosecuted under state and federal criminal laws.
Is protesting protected by the First Amendment?
The First Amendment protects your right to assemble and express your views through protest. However, police and other government officials are allowed to place certain narrow restrictions on the exercise of speech rights. Make sure you're prepared by brushing up on your rights before heading out into the streets.
Is harassment protected by the First Amendment?
To summarize, merely offensive harassing speech is protected speech. Speech that rises to the level of discriminatory harassment is not protected speech. Examples of such speech are rare and unusual.
Does the First Amendment protect clothing?
Overall, yes, expressive clothing choices are protected by the First Amendment as free speech – with some exceptions. The First Amendment protects free speech. More broadly, it protects sending a message by saying something with words or symbols on clothing in addition to spoken words.
Is burning a draft card protected speech?
O'Brien, 391 U.S. 367 (1968) Since the government has an important interest in an effective draft system, the First Amendment does not void a law against burning draft cards, especially since the act of burning a draft card does not implicate a substantial speech interest.
Which of the following is not explicitly protected by the 1st Amendment?
Which of the following is not a right explicitly protected by the First Amendment? Privacy is not a right explicitly guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, but rather has been recognized by the Court to have evolved and "emanated" from the recognition of other Constitutional rights.
Which right did the First Amendment not guarantee?
It does not include a right of social association. The government may prohibit people from knowingly associating in groups that engage and promote illegal activities.
Is hate speech protected by the First Amendment?
In the United States, hate speech receives substantial protection under the First Amendment, based upon the idea that it is not the proper role of the government to attempt to shield individuals from ideas and opinions they find unwelcome, disagreeable, or even deeply offensive.
Which of the following is not a 1st Amendment protection?
Second, a few narrow categories of speech are not protected from government restrictions. The main such categories are incitement, defamation, fraud, obscenity, child pornography, fighting words, and threats.
Which action is likely not protected under the 1st Amendment?
Incitement to Imminent Lawless Action
The First Amendment does not protect speech that incites people to break the law, including to commit acts of violence.
Which action does the First Amendment not protect quizlet?
Types of speech that receives no 1st Amendment protection are fighting words, incitement, obscenity, and threats.
Does dress code violate the First Amendment?
Provided that the dress code is written clearly, is not excessive or onerous, is applied in a consistent fashion, and does not obviously discriminate on the basis of race, sex, religion, and perhaps ethnicity, the code is constitutional and does not violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1965.
What is prohibited by the First Amendment?
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Does the First Amendment protect guns?
In the United States, the right to keep and bear arms is a fundamental right protected by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, part of the Bill of Rights, and by the constitutions of most U.S. states.
What is not protected under the 1st Amendment?
Incitement — speech that is both “directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action” — is unprotected by the First Amendment.
Is verbal abuse protected by the First Amendment?
The federal courts have found increasingly severe verbal abuse to be protected speech. The First Amendment generally protects the right to free speech, but that right is subject to limitations. Threats, fraudulent speech, and obscenity are not protected.
What are examples of hate speech?
- Describing group members as animals, subhuman or genetically inferior.
- Suggesting group members are behind a conspiracy to gain control by plotting to destroy western civilization.
Is profanity protected by the First Amendment?
The Court has held that unless “fighting words” are involved, profane language has First Amendment protection. Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, 315 U.S. 568 (1942). The concern with First Amendment protection for the use of profanity is particularly pronounced for political speech.
Which form of speech is the most consistently protected?
Although it has not been put in a separate category, political speech has received the greatest protection. The Court has stated that the ability to criticize the government and government officials is central to the meaning of the First Amendment.
Does the First Amendment protect civil disobedience?
However, civil disobedience is not protected speech under the Constitution. The Constitution does not guarantee any right to engage in civil disobedience – which, by its very definition, involves the violation of laws or regulations – without incurring consequences.