Commentary

Civil Rights Effort Drew On All 5 First Amendment Freedoms

Gene Policinski

Commentary
Inside the First Amendment

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By Gene Policinski
First Amendment Center vice president/executive director

As we mark the 50th anniversary this month of a hallmark image of the civil rights era — the earliest lunch-counter sit-ins — it’s worth noting how all five freedoms in the First Amendment nurtured and empowered a movement that transformed our society.

While civil disobedience and nonviolent action were the tools of protest, religious liberty and free expression were the…

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