High schoolers and free speech: According to the AP, high school students are utterly clueless about the First Amendment: "[W]hen told of the exact text of the First Amendment, more than one in three high school students said it goes 'too far' in the rights it guarantees. Only half of the students said newspapers should be allowed to publish freely without government approval of stories." The survey also found that 17% of students (compared to 1% of principals and 3% of teachers) believe those with unpopular views should not be allowed to express them, around half of students said the government should restrict internet content, and 75% of students said they believe flag burning to be illegal (it's not). Boingboing, however, offers a tiny glimmer of hope from an 11th-grade reader.

Speaking of clueless: In what Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) of the Black Congressional Caucus called a "mind-boggling moment," George W. Bush admitted that he wasn't aware of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and therefore couldn't respond to a question about its possible renewal in 2007. As columnist Clarence Page implies, perhaps Bush should focus as much attention on voting rights at home as he does in Iraq. (Via Raw Story.)

And, in other constitutional news: A US District Court judge ruled yesterday that Bush violated the Constitution by setting up military tribunals at Guantanamo for suspected terrorists.