The First Amendment comes with five freedoms that are used heavily in everyday life. The freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly and petition play important roles in the way people live their lives. For many, choosing one of the five freedoms to live without is a tough decision. What can one do to rank a freedom higher than the other?

The freedom of assembly is an often misunderstood part of the First Amendment. The right to assemble is not an absolute right; it’s the least-protected freedom by the government. This is because assemblies often involve marching and protesting, which can disturb the peace. While it is the government’s job to protect the freedom of assembly, it is also their job to protect the peace. This causes confusion where people think they are protected by this freedom but are still getting in trouble with the law. There have been court cases with this freedom involved such as DeJonge v. Oregon in 1937, Hague v. Congress of Industrial Organizations in 1939, Edwards v. South Carolina in 1963, Cox v. Louisiana in 1965, Gregory v. City of Chicago in 1969, Police Department of Chicago v. Mosley in 1972, and National Socialist Party v. Skokie in 1977. There have been protests in the early ‘90s over abortions that caused legal issues with the freedom of assembly.

This makes me feel like with such a lack of protection in this area of the First Amendment, it would be okay if it was taken out. This freedom has had the smallest impact on my life and I don’t remember a time where this freedom has been put to positive use. It may be used for positive causes, but the outcome has been nothing more than mediocre this century. With newer generations of people, the less important freedom of assembly becomes.

For me, life without freedom of assembly would be no different than it is right now. With so much government involvement in protecting the peace, I do not see freedom of assembly having a positive effect like it is meant to be. Many people do not even understand the true meaning of freedom of assembly, which makes me believe that it will not affect a majority of lives if it was taken away. The only thing that can serve as a problem if this freedom was removed would be the roles that the freedom of speech and petition will have. Without the freedom of assembly, freedom of speech and petition would often be meaningless.

Thinking about taking away a freedom makes me realize just how important our First Amendment is and how many people use it everyday without realizing it because it’s natural to them. Without the First Amendment our way of living life would be severely altered, and life as we know it would change completely. It would feel like being trapped in a cage and many people would be angry. Little effects that we make, or things we say may not be protected, and nobody likes the feeling of being threatened. Our economics would be destroyed and it would take the world a while to adjust to the vast changes.