The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble, or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances. read more
Consequently, very few changes were made in the first two centuries after the ratification of the First Amendment. The Supreme Court's ruling in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964) fundamentally changed American defamation law. read more