The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances.
(via https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution)
If you happen to pay attention to what's going on in American politics these days you'd know the IRS (Internal Revenue Services) was recently caught discriminating against constitutionally conservative political groups like the Tea Party. Despite the Obama Administration denying foreknowledge of the intentional targeting, the scandal began prior to the 2012 presidential election and could've had a large impact on the Tea Parties chances to gain seats down in Washington.
The targeting of certain groups by the federal tax administration is a clear violation of the First Amendment which grants people the right to petition the government without the threat of punishment or reprisal. Tea Party backed Republican Senator Marco Rubio calls the scandal a "direct assault on our Constitution further justifying the American people’s distrust in government and its ability to properly implement our laws". The irony of the scandal is the Tea Party was established as a political party advocating for strict constitutional adherence as well as a US government tax and spending reduction. The federal government and IRS must have seen their political views as a threat to the governments agenda and began targeting Tea Partiers to restrict their ability to gain political momentum.
Following the unfolding scandal, the Obama Administration forced IRS Commissioner Steven Miller (and not the good one) to resign in an attempt to save themselves from even more scrutiny for involvement. But the IRS scandal is just the beginning of the recent assault on the First Amendment by the US government.
Recently in another display of constitutional abuse by the federal government, the US Justice Department seized two months of phone records from journalists working for the Associated Press, without legitimate reasoning. Prosecutors claimed the seizure was part of an investigation regarding AP's knowledge of an alleged al-Qaeda bomb plot in Yemen despite the governments claims the plot did not exist. The CEO of AP, Gary Pruitt, calls the recent seizure of phone records "unconstitutional" and he's considering taking legal action against the Justice Department. "The government has no business monitoring the AP's news gathering activities" - "the people of the United States will only know what the government wants them to know and that's not what the framers of the Constitution had in mind when they wrote the First Amendment", Pruitt said in his first television interview since the seizure of the documents.
The Freedom of Press granted in the First Amendment restricts the federal government from intervening with media outlets, therefore a confiscation of records is a clear violation of the US constitution and the First Amendment rights.
The Freedom of Information Act also allows for the full disclosure of previously unreleased government documents and was also violated by the Justice Department when seizing the phone records because the plan to seize the records was said to be conducted due to AP's knowledge of unreleased material.
This aggressive constitutional violation by the Justice Department has many journalists worried the federal government intends to continue cracking down on the Freedom of Press in an attempt to control the nations media.
Adam Kokesh, former marine now independent journalist, was arrested yesterday in Philadelphia while attending Smoke Down Prohibition, a monthly protest of civil disobedience where pot smokers gather to toke up in public as an attempt to gain awareness for unjust drug laws. Kokesh did not have marijuana in his possession and didn't even smoke any, but was still targeted by police and violently hauled off to a van before getting shipped to a federal jail. Adam was charged with resisting arrest although he didn't do a thing besides talk into a microphone to get arrested in the first place. Last time I checked, talking into a microphone was protected under the First Amendment with the freedom of speech clause.
Could it be authorities were targeting Adam Kokesh because he recently organized an Open Carry march on DC where thousands of gun rights advocates plan to march through Washington with their loaded rifles on July 4th? Seems likely, which shows another clear instance of law enforcements blatant disregard for the United States Constitution, the same constitution all officers must take an oath to before beginning their job.
Here's video from the Smoke Down Prohibition and Adam Kokesh's arrest:
Stand up America, your rights are under attack.
Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/19/ap-ceo-gary-pruitt-doj_n_3303296.html
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/irs-commissioner-says-partisanship-not-involved-agency-behavior-134141319.html
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/report-irs-deliberately-chose-not-fess-scandal-election_724711.html
http://www.prisonplanet.com/radio-host-adam-kokesh-arrested-in-philly.html
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