Both our very own Marc Moore and The Moderate Voice‘s Pete Abel took a quiz to test their knowledge of the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution. I took the quiz as well; it sounded interesting, so I gave it a try. I decided not to post the results in the comment section because, well, because I performed remarkably well.*

This young Dutchman beat both old Americans (just kidding guys) with ease; Marc got only 23 of 30 questions right, Pete 25. I, however, got…

29 right.

Yeah baby, I’m good.

Proof:
Answer to question 21:

Correct! The best answer is B.

The First Amendment only prohibits government officials from endorsing or promoting a particular religion. It does not prohibit students from doing so on their own. For example, while it would be unlawful for a public school teacher to have his class recite the Lord’s Prayer prior to handing out a test, nothing prohibits his students from quietly praying on their own.

Results so far: 21 of 21 correct.

But then:
Answer to question 24:

Incorrect. The best answer is B. (You chose ‘A’)

Court have consistently struck down so-called campus or school “speech codes” that seek to limit lawful speech that many listeners would nevertheless find offensive. As one federal appeals court judge noted in striking down a public school district’s student speech code: “There is no categorical ‘harassment exception’ to the First Amendment’s free speech clause…. [While] non-expressive, physically harassing conduct is entirely outside the ambit of the free speech clause…there is…no question that the free speech clause protects a wide variety of speech that listeners may consider deeply offensive, including statements that impugn another’s race or national origin or that denigrate religious beliefs.” Saxe v. State College Area School District (3rd Cir. 2001).

More

Answer to question 30:

Correct! The best answer is A.

The First Amendment does not protect an individual’s right to publish deceptive or misleading ads. The First Amendment does protect — to at least some degree — the other listed types of speech.

Results so far: 29 of 30 correct.

Concluding:

That’s it!

Thank you for using the SPLC’s Test Your Knowledge of the First Amendment. You answered 29 of 30 questions correctly…
28 and above: Outstanding! James Madison and Company would be very proud. CENSORS BEWARE!

Yeah baby, yeah!

* I did, in fact, decide to post the results before finishing the quiz, but the first paragraph worked out better (read: more arrogant) by pretending I decided to post it after I was done because of the great results.