NOTE: “Occupy Lancaster members plan to ‘occupy indefinitely’ the Arts Park at Prince and Chestnut streets starting Saturday to show solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street protests.” – Lancaster Intelligencer Journal/New Era

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.

” … the First Amendment is the single most important part of the Constitution. It protects some of the most basic human rights and reflects a view of the dangerous places government might tread.

“The ability to speak your mind is a right that Americans take for granted. Imagine being too frightened by the possible consequences of speaking out to actually do so. Your opinion would not matter — even your vote would be corrupted. Even as important is the right to petition your government — not only can you have an opinion about your government, the government must listen to you (though it need not heed you — but that’s what elections are for).

“Some of the first colonists of the nation for which the Constitution was written had been seeking to escape religious persecution. The constitutions of several of the states prohibited public support of religion (though some did explicitly support or demand adherence to Christianity). Above all, the many varying sects of Christianity in America required that to be fair to all, there could be preference to none. It would have been disgraceful for anyone to wish to leave the United States because of religious persecution. So the authors decided it best to keep the government out of religion. This is not to say that the United States was not or is not a religious nation. Religion plays a big role in the everyday life of Americans, then and now. But what the authors were striving for is tolerance …  something I fear contemporary Americans are lacking.

“As for the press, the authors regarded a free press as almost a fourth branch of government, constantly keeping tabs on the government’s activities and actions. Though today’s tabloid papers and television might give one pause, this kind of trash is a small price to pay to ensure that any news organization can rest assured that it can report freely on the activities of the government. Many other organizations in other nations have to worry about toeing the state’s line or be shut down. How objective do you think a reporter can be when his life could be ended because of a critical story?” – (SOURCE: http://www.usconstitution.net)

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Similar First Amendment protection exists under Pennsylvania’s Constitution. “The Pennsylvania Constitution is the foundation of our state government-the well from which liberty and justice spring forth. Our first Constitution was adopted in 1776 and was a framework for the U.S. Constitution, which did not take effect until 1789. The articles and amendments of the Pennsylvania Constitution compose the fundamental law of the Commonwealth. It ensures basic rights to our citizens, outlines the structure of our government, and provides the rules by which our representatives are elected and how they conduct the business of the state.”] (SOURCE: Pennsylvania Constitution)