The Bill of Rights is a document that is law in all 50 United States and protects citizens of the United States from various illegal punishments that would violate these rights which are considered universal for all those who legally reside in the country. These amendments are extremely important to us as citizens of the United States because they provide us with a set of guidelines upon which to model our behavior and speech, as well as enabling us to defend ourselves from censorship of various forms that may be imposed upon us by government, organizations or other people. Just as every law is meant to be tested, the laws set forth in the Bill of Rights have been tested through numerous court cases tried by the United States Supreme Court. These processes serve to clarify the meaning of the law in situations where its intent is not immediately obvious. Here we will analyze several court cases and their impact on society, as well as the sociological climate of the population when these cases were tried. First we will look at Morse v. Frederick, a free speech case that occurred in 2007 and focused on the legality of a student to present speech that could be viewed as promoting or glorifying illicit drug use. Public opinion has changed somewhat in recent years, moving from the widespread, publicly accepted and supported “war on drugs” that began in the Reagan era to a more “libertarian” approach supported by many. This libertarian approach holds that as long as a person's illicit drug use does not violate the rights of others in society, or place others in danger, drug use is acceptable in a private setting and should not be illegal . In 2013, as many as 58% of Americans were of the opinion that marijuana should... middle of paper..."James Dale, the first to challenge the Boy Scouts' ban on gays, calls the new policy "destructive". " Nj.com. Np, nd Web. December 11, 2013. “Landmark Supreme Court Cases.” Comments on Supreme Court Cases from the Bill of Rights Institute. Np, nd Web. Dec. 11, 2013. “MCCREARY COUNTY v. ACLU.” Oyez.org. Np, nd Web. December 10, 2013. “MGM STUDIOS v. GROKSTER.” Oyez.org. Np, nd Web. December 11, 2013. “Morse v. Frederick (2007).” Bill of Rights Institute Landmark Supreme Court Cases Morse v. Frederick 2007 Comments. Np, nd Web. December 11, 2013. “MORSE vs. FREDERICK.” Cornell University School of Law. NP, March 19, 2007. Web. December 10, 2013. “States that have decriminalized.” NORML.org - Working to reform marijuana laws. Np, nd Web. 09 December 2013.Sullum, Giacobbe. “Gallup poll finds 58% of Americans favor legalizing marijuana.” Forbes. Forbes magazine, October 22, 2013. Web. December 11. 2013.