(Photo
by
Jonathan
Ernst-Pool/Getty
Images)
How
well
do
Americans
understand
their
rights?
Not
very
well
at
all!
The
disturbing
results
from
the
2023
Annenberg
Constitution
Day
Civics
Survey
revealed
some
pretty
massive
holes
in
basic
knowledge
of
the
Constitution.
They
asked
respondents
to
name
the
specific
rights
guaranteed
by
the
First
Amendment
—
the
easiest
of
all
the
Amendments
to
master,
IMHO.
The
results:
-
77%
said
freedom
of
speech -
40%
said
freedom
of
religion -
33%
said
the
right
to
assembly -
28%
said
freedom
of
the
press -
9%
said
the
right
to
petition
government
Only
5
percent
got
them
all.
Twenty
percent
knew
none
of
the
rights
guaranteed
by
the
First
Amendment,
and
a
disturbing
22
percent
thought
the
right
to
bear
arms
was
covered
by
the
1A
—
that’s
the
Second
Amendment
folks,
which
I’d
like
to
think
is
obvious,
but
this
survey
is
out
here
proving
me
wrong.
But,
if
you’re
one
of
the
95
percent
of
Americans
that
don’t
know
the
five
freedoms
protected
by
the
First
Amendment,
fear
not!
You
can
still
have
a
high
powered
career
—
and
one
in
the
legal
field
to
boot!
Legal
nerds
will
recall
then-nominee
Amy
Coney
Barrett
struggled
to
list
the
First
Amendment
freedoms
in
her
confirmation
hearing.
Of
course,
that
translated
to
little
more
than
a
hiccup
in
her
elevation
to
the
High
Court.
To
be
fair,
I’d
have
traded
incomplete
knowledge
of
the
First
Amendment
for
a
robust
understanding
of
reproductive
freedom,
but
with
Barrett
we
got
neither.
Earlier:
Survey
Says
At
Least
22%
Of
Public’s
Constitutional
Knowledge
Is
Just
Vibes
Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of
The
Jabot
podcast,
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
free
to
email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments
and
follow
her
on
Twitter
@Kathryn1 or
Mastodon
@Kathryn1@mastodon.social.