According to the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Donald Trump, Republican candidate for president, recently stated he wants to make America great again. He said, “I feel very strongly about our Constitution. I’m proud of it. I love it,” but, he also wants to open up our libel laws so when the media writes purposely negative and horrible false articles he can make it easier to sue the media and win lots of money.

The First Amendment covers the freedom of speech. In 1964, the Supreme Court case of New York Times v. Sullivan helped protect the freedom of the press, as well.

It’s no secret that Trump has  said he does not like the media. At a rally in Forth Worth, Texas, Trump said, “I think the media is among the most dishonest groups of people I’ve ever met. They’re terrible.”

According to laws.com, the freedom of press means that the public has the right to get information from many different  sources of information, such as print, radio or TV.

The government does not have the power to control the media. American citizens can write in newspapers, request time on TV, write leaflets, or go online to state their opinions.

The Supreme Court case decided that any public figure suing for libel must prove that any defamatory or insulting statements were made with actual hatred or malice, “With knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.”

So, when Trump claims he’s going to open up libel laws and sue the media, what I think he means is that he’ll reverse this court case.

There is no way he can take away the freedom of the press or freedom of speech unless he wants to go against the U.S. Constitution, which was signed in 1787.

If Trump became president, he would need the support of Congress to amend the Constitution.

I think it’s safe to say that we won’t be losing our freedom of speech anytime soon.