Legal Question in Constitutional Law in New York

Re: did jay bennish violate the first amendmend

I'm sorry if I'm an old fogie who doesn't know who Jay Bennish is but I can tell you that the First Amendment only applies to governmental entities so they are the only ones who can violate it. And violations take the form of preventing people from exercising their rights. Mr. Bennish' comments might not be protected by the 1st amendment however if they are deemed to be slanderous but it's highly unlikely that a sitting President would worry about being called any names.

A private person has no obligation to let you hold a rally on their front lawn and they can heckle you and keep you from speaking. That might be disturbing the peace but again, only the govt. is prohibited from infringing on your right to free expression, the press, religion the right to asssemble peaceably or petition the govt. for a redress of grievances.

I'll bet you didn't know there was all that in the 1st amendment. You ought to read the Constitution sometime. It's only about 10 pages long and the amendments are another 10 but it is, in my opinion, by far the most brilliant, visionary and functional blueprint for democratic government ever conceived.