ABSTRACT
An enduring question in the Supreme Court's approach to the First Amendment has been the extent to which the Court should exercise its power of judicial review to invalidate legislation the Court deems to be in contravention of the First Amendment. Should the Court presume that legislators, who after all are bound by oath to uphold the Constitution, are acting constitutionally when they pass laws restricting purported First Amendment freedoms? If not, how closely should the Court examine such legislation to determine if it passes constitutional muster? In attempting to answer such questions, the Court since the late 1930s has created a number of constitutional tests to guide both itself and lower courts as they examine legislation affecting First Amendment rights.
