10-Question Quiz: '1A'

( Junius Brutus Stearns )
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Brian Lehrer: It's The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Good morning again, everyone. 10-Question Quiz time as we will do a 10-Question Quiz right around now, right around 11 o'clock, or a few minutes after. It's four past 11:00 right now, every day during the drive. As I said before the news, each quiz during this drive has a topic derived from a different public radio show. Yesterday it was The New Yorker Radio Hour. Today it's 1A, the real show that we air every weekday at one o'clock.
Did you know that 1A is a reference to the First Amendment? It actually is. We've got a 10-Question Quiz now in honor of 1A on the First Amendment. Who wants to play? 212-433-WNYC. Get two in a row right and you can choose The Brian Lehrer Show baseball hat or Brian Lehrer Show mug as a prize. We'll start with Andrew in Astoria. Andrew, you're on WNYC. Ready to play?
Andrew: Hey Brian, thanks for taking me. Yes, sure.
Brian Lehrer: Okay, question one, true or false, freedom of the press, the right to peaceably assemble, and the right to petition the government for redress of grievances are all contained in the First Amendment. True or false?
Andrew: I'm going to say true.
Brian Lehrer: True is right. Question two, we mentioned freedom of the press of assembly and to petition the government there. There are two other rights that we didn't mention that are also contained in the First Amendment. Can you name the other two? If you need a hint, I'll tell you that they are the most commonly discussed too. Think First Amendment and you probably think of these things first.
Andrew: Sorry, there's two other parts in terms of--
Brian Lehrer: Yes, two other. The First Amendment lists five specific different rights. We mentioned three of them in question one. There are two others, but they're really the first two that generally come to mind. Can you name them?
Andrew: There's freedom of the press.
Brian Lehrer: Which we already said.
Andrew: Freedom of religion.
Brian Lehrer: That's one.
Andrew: Freedom of speech.
Brian Lehrer: That's the other one. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. You got them right. Thank you very much. Hang on. You can choose whether you want a mug or a hat. Yes, religious freedom and freedom of speech. Here's the whole First Amendment. When was the last time you heard it? Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or bridging the freedom of speech or of the press or the right of the people to peaceably assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
It's astonishing, isn't it that the right to bear arms gets its own amendment, search and seizure gets its own amendment? The right to not have the government station soldiers in your house gets its own amendment. Not that those aren't all important, but all these giant foundational things in the First Amendment packed into one, freedom of speech and religion and of the press and of the right to assemble and petition the government. No wonder there's a whole daily radio show named after that one sentence in the Constitution. All right, Arnold in Brooklyn, ready to play? Arnold in Brooklyn is that you?
Arnold: Yes, I'm ready to play. Yes.
Brian Lehrer: Okay. Question number three, the Supreme Court ruling in 2010 known as Citizens United, much hated by many progressives, was decided on First Amendment grounds. What in brief was the First Amendment holding in that Citizens United case?
Arnold: Economic contributions of corporations are considered an exercise of the First Amendment.
Brian Lehrer: That's right because I'm going to take that as the right answer, but what part of the First Amendment?
Arnold: Speech.
Brian Lehrer: Speech, exactly. Citizens United was an interest group that didn't think it should be limited in how much it could spend in support of its favorite candidates. That was upheld five to four in that contentious decision. Question number four, in a case decided last year, the Supreme Court ruled that a Christian artist who opposed same-sex marriage could refuse to make wedding art for gay couples who sought to hire her. It wasn't a religious liberty ruling, it was on one of the other First Amendment rights. Do you know which one?
Arnold: Also speech.
Brian Lehrer: Also speech is right. Blow the trumpets. Do you want a hat or do you want a mug?
Arnold: It's a hard one. I think I can get a hat.
Brian Lehrer: Okay, hang on Arnold, we're going to take your address. Freedom of speech. The court's conservative majority held six-three that freedom of speech protected the artist because she had not only the right to say what she wants, but also to not be compelled to create speech that she doesn't believe in. All right, let's see who's up next. David in Brooklyn on line three. David, ready to play?
David: Yes, but I'm not going to take a prize to save you money.
Brian Lehrer: Okay, that's very nice. Of course, it presumes you're going to win, but in a different kind of--
David: No, I'm just saying if I do win.
Brian Lehrer: I know, I'm playing with you. In a different kind of religion-linked First Amendment case, The New York Times has a story this week about a group called the All Tribes Medicine Assembly. They say they are a church and therefore they can do what as a religious practice that's usually illegal under federal law.
David: I didn't read that story, but I'm going to assume it's drug-related.
Brian Lehrer: That is true. That they can take psychedelic drugs. That's correct. Question six, a famous Freedom of the Press case in 1971 was called New York Times versus the United States. The Times sued and won because President Richard Nixon was trying to do what?
David: Is this the Pentagon Papers related?
Brian Lehrer: Absolutely right. What was he trying to do with respect to the Pentagon Papers?
David: I assume prevent the publication of the Pentagon Papers.
Brian Lehrer: That is exactly right. That's two in a row right. Take a prize if you want. We could just send you a button if you want or not. Thank you for being concerned about saving us a few dollars. Another winner there. Right, Pentagon Papers case, Nixon was trying to block The Times from publishing the Pentagon Papers which were secret documents about the history of the US involvement in Vietnam.
I think importantly to this history, for people who don't know the story, the court held that since the documents contained history, not current military secrets that could put people at risk, the government had no right of prior restraint on the Pentagon Papers publication. All right. Robin in Harlem, you're on WNYC. Hi, Robin, ready to play?
Robin: Yes, I am.
Brian Lehrer: Question number seven in our 10-Question Quiz. Who said this past November in a social media post that the government should "come down hard on MSNBC and make them pay for their illegal political activity, much more to come, watch." Who said that?
Robin: I'm going to guess Trump.
Brian Lehrer: Wild guess. That was obvious, right? Something to watch for if he's elected and gets critical press coverage and if he tries to weaken the First Amendment, the freedom of the press clause of the First Amendment. Question number eight. This one is about the right to assemble that's in the First Amendment, and very relevant to today because it was about the right to protest. There was a 1992 Supreme Court case called Forsyth County v. Nationalist Movement.
At issue is whether a local government could charge a higher fee for a protest permit if it was likely to require a lot of police presence, more police cost to the government than other gatherings. Which way do you think that ruling went? Was the local government allowed to charge more to a protest group requiring more police presence for their permit or was that extra fee held to be unconstitutional?
Robin: That extra fee was held to be unconstitutional.
Brian Lehrer: It absolutely was. So that is two in a row, right? We're giving away a lot of hats and mugs if people choose to take them. You want that or you want the mug.
Robin: I'm also going to forego them to save you the expense and to let other people enjoy that bounty.
Brian Lehrer: Thank you very much, Robin. Thanks. Yes, in that case from '92, the Supreme Court ruled that money could not be a barrier to the right to assemble and protest groups could not be afforded their right to assemble differently on the basis of how much it would cost for the police. Russell in Rockaway Beach, you're on WNYC. Ready to play?
Russell: Yes.
Brian Lehrer: Question number nine. This is a tough one, but something really interesting that I learned while researching this topic to write this quiz, and it's about the one last right in the First Amendment that we haven't discussed yet, the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. Back in the 1830s, 1830s, Congressman John Quincy Adams provoked a near riot by presenting petitions on the House floor from a group of Americans who had a very good reason in the 1830s to feel aggrieved. Whose petitions did he present?
Russell: I have no idea. I don't know.
Brian Lehrer: You don't want to try a guess?
Russell: I don't know.
Brian Lehrer: Okay, Russell. Thank you. Well, according to the National Constitution Center-- you know that place? Ever been there? They have that constitution museum in Philadelphia and they get to own the website constitution.org. Well, according to them, John Quincy Adams after being defeated for a second term as president was elected to the House of Representatives where he provoked a near riot, they say, on the House floor by presenting petitions from slaves seeking their freedom.
The House leadership responded by imposing a gag rule limiting petitions. They didn't want to hear about enslaved people petitioning for their freedom. They later repudiated that gag order as unconstitutional. The House itself apparently, did that in 1844. All right. We have one more question. We're going to be in the special category here. If you get one in a row right? You get to choose a hat or a mug if you want one. Amy in Manhattan, you're on WNYC. Ready to play?
Amy: Yes.
Brian Lehrer: Okay. We're going to close it out Amy with a test to see if you've been paying attention these last few minutes or if you paid attention in high school, you'll get it right too. Can you name all five of the rights in the First Amendment?
Amy: Let's see. Freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and free exercise there. I don't know if that's a separate right or not.
Brian Lehrer: Yes, religion. That's right. I know religion has two parts, the establishment clause, but free exercise also. We generally take that as one. Of speech, of religion, at the press. What are the other two?
Amy: The right peacefully to assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Brian Lehrer: Ta-da. Amy, hang on. If you want a hat or a mug, your choice, we will take your address off the air. Listeners, thank you for taking our 1A First Amendment quiz. We'll do another one tomorrow at the same time.
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