The Meaning of the First Amendment

First Amendment freedoms are most in danger when the government seeks to control thought or to justify its laws for that impermissible end. The Supreme Court has decided the meaning of the First Amendment on a case-by-case basis—examining what freedom of the press and the other allied freedoms mean in the context of a set of circumstances. Another approach to the application of First Amendment theory to the cases presented to the Supreme Court is the preferred position. The absolutist theory argues that the First Amendment prohibits the government from placing limits on speech related to self-government and on the press. The dominant view of the meaning of the First Amendment is associated with a metaphor, the marketplace of ideas. The marketplace exists as a place of robust debate where truth will emerge, or at least the best perspectives or solutions will emerge for problems that are faced by society.