Wednesday, March 14, 2018

College Students See An Erosion Of 1st Amendment Rights






These charts are from the Gallup Poll. The survey was done between November 1st and December 10th (2017) of a random national sample of 3,014 students attending a four-year college in the U.S., and has a margin of error of 2 points. That sample is compared to a similar survey done in 2016.

Those students were asked in both years whether they thought our First Amendment rights (free speech, free press, free assembly, freedom to petition government, and freedom of religion) were secure or not. The charts show the percentage believing those rights were secure.

Note that, except for Republicans, the college students had a drop from 2016 to 2017 in the belief that those rights were secure -- and that drop was evident for all five of the freedoms. In other words, more students saw those rights as eroding in 2017 than saw that in 2016.

This is understandable. We have an occupant of the White House right now that does not respect the First Amendment rights. He has attacked anyone who would speak or demonstrate against him (whether in the press or as an individual or group), and his pandering to christian evangelicals has weakened the religious rights of those in another religion (or without religion).

For Trump, rights are only reserved for those who agree with him.

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