Understanding Your Rights in a Democracy

The First Amendment “Package”

• 🗣️ Freedom of Speech
  • The message. Your right to criticize, support, or propose an idea.
• 📰 Freedom of the Press
  • The amplifier. Distributing Information.
• 👥 Right of Assembly
  • The group power. Collective strength.
• 🏛️ Right to Petition
  • The goal. Present problems seeking solutions

Organized Contact & Lobbying

• What it is: Citizens organizing to contact legislators and officials with a specific “ask.”
• Examples: Coordinated email campaigns, phone banks, student groups scheduling meetings at the Capitol in Austin.
• 1A Connection: This is the most direct, modern form of the Right to Petition.

Protest & Marches

• What it is: The classic form. A group gathers in a public space to show collective support or opposition.
• Examples: Rallies in a public park, marches to City Hall, picket lines.
• 1A Connection: This is a combination of the Right of Assembly and Freedom of Speech.

Citizen Journalism

• What it is: Using modern technology to document and disseminate information about public events, acting as a check on power.
• Examples: Live-tweeting a city council meeting, blogging an analysis of a new law, posting a video of a protest online.
• 1A Connection: This is a pure exercise of the Freedom of the Press.

Filming the Police

• What it is: A specific and crucial form of citizen journalism. Recording the on-duty actions of public officials to ensure accountability.
• 1A Connection: This is a vital exercise of First Amendment rights.
• Courts have repeatedly affirmed this is a clearly established right (combining Speech and Press).
• You have this right as long as you are in a public place and not interfering with an officer’s lawful duties.

Civil Disobedience

• What it is: The non-violent, public, and intentional breaking of a law to protest a greater injustice.
• Examples: 1960s lunch counter sit-ins, a group of activists blocking a highway to protest climate policy.
• 1A Connection: This is where First Amendment protection ENDS.

Risk vs. Reality

• Organized Contact:
  • Low Risk. High Effort.
• Protest:
  • Moderate Risk. Can be high-risk if it’s shut down or if counter-protestors arrive.

Risk vs. Reality (cont.)

• Filming Police:
  • Legally: Low Risk (it’s a protected right).
  • Situationally: Can be high-risk of confrontation or arrest for “interference.”
• Civil Disobedience:
  • Guaranteed High Risk. Arrest is the point.

Texas Protections: Turner v. Driver (2017)

This is the case that matters for filming the police in Texas.

• What: A man in Fort Worth, Philip Turner, was arrested for filming a police station from a public sidewalk.
• The Ruling: The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals (our federal court) ruled in his favor.
• The Precedent: The court explicitly affirmed a First Amendment right to record the police, calling it a “basic, vital, and well-established liberty.”

Texas Hot Topic: SB 2972 (Oct 2025)

This battleground is right here on your campus.

• The Law: 2025 - SB 2972. One section: ban all “expressive activities” on college campuses between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m.
• The Action: Student groups and civil liberties organizations challenged in court
• The Ruling (Oct 2025): Just last month, a federal judge blocked that part of the law.
• The Quote: “The First Amendment does not have a bedtime.” (David Alan Ezra, U.S. District Judge)

Questions?

Tom Hanna Lecturer & Ph.D. Candidate tlhanna@uh.edu | tomhanna.me

Authorship and License

• Author: Tom Hanna

• Website: tomhanna.me

• License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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