"If the freedom of speech be taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter."--George Washington
The architects of the American police state must think we're idiots.
With every passing day, we're being moved further down the road towards a totalitarian society characterized by government censorship, violence, corruption, hypocrisy and intolerance, all packaged for our supposed benefit in the Orwellian doublespeak of national security, tolerance and so-called "government speech."
Long gone are the days when advocates of free speech could prevail in a case such as Tinker v. Des Moines. Indeed, it's been 50 years since 13-year-old Mary Beth Tinker was suspended for wearing a black armband to school in protest of the Vietnam War. In taking up her case, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that students do not "shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate."
Were Tinker to make its way through the courts today, it would have to overcome the many hurdles being placed in the path of those attempting to voice sentiments that may be construed as unpopular, offensive, conspiratorial, violent, threatening or anti-government.
Consider, if you will, that the U.S. Supreme Court, historically a champion of the First Amendment, has declared that citizens can exercise their right to free speech everywhere it's lawful--online, in social media, on a public sidewalk, etc.--as long as they don't do so in front of the Court itself.
What is the rationale for upholding this ban on expressive activity on the Supreme Court plaza?
"Allowing demonstrations directed at the Court, on the Court's own front terrace, would tend to yield the"impression"of a Court engaged with -- and potentially vulnerable to -- outside entreaties by the public."
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