Jeffrey Rosen Reflects on Freedom of Conscience and the First Amendment

In celebration of the dedication of the #FirstAmendment tablet at the National Constitution Center, President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen discusses how the First Amendment’s protection of the freedom of conscience shows us the connection between the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. Rosen explores Thomas Jefferson’s Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom in Virginia, drafted in 1777, and Justice Brandeis’s opinion in Whitney v. California, drafted in 192. He notes, “Only by listening to the best arguments on all sides of the constitutional questions at the center of American life can all of us exercise our right and duty to make up our own minds.”

This clip is a part of the National Constitution Center’s America’s Town Hall program, Why the First Amendment Matters. Watch the full program with #freespeech defenders Randall Kennedy of Harvard Law School, Nadine Strossen of New York Law School, and Greg Lukianoff of the Foundation for Individual Rights. A dedication ceremony featuring remarks from the Honorable J. Michael Luttig, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (former), and Jan Neuharth, chair and CEO of the Freedom Forum follows.

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