Interpreting the First Amendment
"One, we look at the words. And the words are surely phrased very strongly: 'No law abridging the freedom of speech or of the press.' Then we go back a little bit into the philosophical basis that underlay the adoption of the First Amendment. Why did Thomas Jefferson, for example, say that he would not support the new Constitution unless there was a Bill of Rights including a First Amendment. What is it they were afraid of? And the historical answer, I think, is that they were afraid of what they had seen in too many countries around the world which was the government intervention in the decisions about what to say and what to print and government suppression of freedom of speech and freedom of the press. So we start with that, and then we go on and make some very hard decisions sometimes about what the First Amendment means." Floyd Abrams, leading 1st Amendment lawyer who represented The New York Times Freedom of the press was included in the Bill of Rights because the founding fathers understood that a free press is linked to our principles of democracy. If governments could block opinions or stories they disliked, then the public would be less informed and it would weaken the discussion about how to govern ourselves.
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August 4, 1822. |
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