Friday, August 1
Survey Shows Support for First Amendment Increasing
By Russ Oates Associated Press Writer
Published: Aug 1, 2003
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Support for the First Amendment is on the rise from last year, when Americans showed more backing for curbs on civil liberties during the war on terrorism, a survey released Friday shows.
The nationwide telephone poll of 1,000 adults found that 19 percent of respondents strongly agreed that the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees. That number was down sharply from the 41 percent found on last year's survey, conducted nine months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The First Amendment protects freedom of religion, speech, and press, and Americans' right to assemble and petition the government.
Nearly half of those questioned believed they had too little access to information about the government's war on terrorism, according to the annual survey commissioned by the Nashville-based First Amendment Center and American Journalism Review magazine. Two-thirds of those surveyed disagreed with law enforcement efforts to monitor materials checked out of public libraries as part of the anti-terror effort. (snip/...)
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAQ4BNCUID.html