Thomas Jefferson to Edward Carrington
In this famous letter to Edward Carrington, a fellow Virginian, Jefferson upholds the freedom of the people to criticize their government. The American people “are the only censors of their governors; and even their errors will tend to keep these to the true principles of their institution. To punish these errors too severely would be to suppress the only safeguard of the public liberty.”
Thomas Jefferson’s First Inaugural Address
On March 4, 1801, Thomas Jefferson delivered his First Inaugural Address in the Senate Chamber before taking the oath of office administered by Chief Justice John Marshall. He became the nation’s third President amidst the fires still burning from the odious Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798. Under the Sedition Act, the Federalist Administration of John Adams had jailed more than a dozen Democratic-Republican political opponents for their speech or writing. Jefferson, vice president under Adams, and James Madison had opposed the Acts in their Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, written in secret.
What International Journalists Have to Worry About After President’s Recent Twitter Tirade
The Atlantic asks how is the U.S. Department of Justice’s complaint against the proposed AT&T–Time Warner merger related to President Trump’s subsequent tweet against CNN International which caused much consternation on Twitter […]
Authors Share Excerpts on Free Speech: Charles Slack and Liberty’s First Crisis
Liberty’s First Crisis:Adams, Jefferson, and the Misfits Who Saved Free Speech "tells the story of the 1798 Sedition Act, the crucial moment when high ideals met real-world politics and the country’s future hung in the balance. From a loudmouth in a bar to a firebrand politician to Benjamin Franklin’s own grandson, those victimized by the Sedition Act were as varied as the country’s citizenry." - Grove Atlantic
Judge Refuses to Enforce Prior Restraint Against EFF
November 17, 2017: Federal Judge Says Australian Court Cannot Tell US-based EFF To Take Down Article A federal judge ruled that an order issued by an Australian court to take […]
Authors Share Excerpts on Free Speech: Thomas Healy and The Great Dissent
The Great Dissent: How Oliver Wendell Holmes Changed His Mind--and Changed the History of Free Speech in America "is a fascinating glimpse into an art that seems lost in law and politics today: the art of changing one's mind. In meticulous detail, Healy tells us how the great jurist, who had staunchly upheld criminal convictions in free speech cases just months before, changed his mind in Abrams." - The Atlantic
Yelp Case Demonstrates How To Out Anonymous Speakers
The online consumer review site, Yelp, tried to protect the anonymity of a reviewer who wrote a dismissive piece about accountancy, Montagna & Associates, Inc., for overcharging and harassment. Montagna sued […]
Court Rules Baring Breasts Not Protected by First Amendment
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled that a Chicago ordinance did not violate the First Amendment freedom of speech or the Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection […]