1. From my understanding the Establishment Clause was created so that congress would not be able to promote or establish a certain religion. The Establishment Clause made sure that there was a separation between the church and state they agreed to this clause because “In Europe, bitter wars were fought between and within states, often because the established church of one territory was in conflict with that of another; wars and civil strife were common, particularly between states with Protestant and Catholic churches that had differing interpretations of Christianity.”(Reading 9.1). Basically, the government saw how promoting and establishing a religion brought forth so many problems and war, so the government did not want to bring these problems over to their new land. The Lemon test was a sort of check list created by the Supreme Court to test laws and make sure the actions of the government do not violate the Established Clause.
  2. Burning the US flag is protected by the First Amendment. In the case of Texas v. Johnson, the Supreme Court decided “that burning the flag was a form of symbolic speech protected by the First Amendment and found the law, as applied to flag desecration, to be unconstitutional.”(Reading 9.1). The court basically saw it as a way of expressing themselves and freedom of expression is protected under the First Amendment.
  3. When someone says “I’m taking the Fifth” they are referring to the Fifth Amendment on the US Constitution this means that the person is using their right to remain silent and not answer questions that could be used to incriminate them.

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