Minnesota Lawyer

Under the First Amendment, I get to say out loud almost anything without fear of government interference or retaliation. So I'd like to say ... "Thanks."

Former ABC "Nightline" host Ted Koppel and MSNBC host and pundit Keith Olbermann recently exchanged sharply opposing views about the state of the news business - as they see it.

Do you recall that ironic twist on an old saying that goes like this: "No good deed goes unpunished?"

While the emergence of Tea Party candidates is getting headlines in this fall's midterm elections, another trend with free-speech implications has popped up that may be more important.

The freedoms of speech and press spelled out in the 45 words of the First Amendment protect U.S. journalists from government restraint or reprisal for what they say or write. As a result, with rare exceptions, throughout our history journalists have sometimes risked reputation, circulation or ratings - but not their lives - for what they have published or broadcast.

Anyone who has vacationed at a national park knows one of the real challenges is not to leave any necessities at home.

Americans sure have been assembling a lot lately-using a basic right that's often overshadowed by its better-known First Amendment kin, particularly freedom of speech.

We don't know yet if a Muslim community center and mosque will get built near the World Trade Center site of the 9-11 terrorist bombings in New York City.

From a judge willing-if only for a time-to throw "80 years of First Amendment jurisprudence on its head" with her court order, to a congressional attempt to exempt depictions of animal cruelty from free-speech protection, to leaks of secret documents that may threaten national security, to protests over Islamic centers and mosques ... well, disputes touching on the amendment's five freedoms are as hot as August weather.

What do you do when you hear foul language on television?