There is no “hate speech” exception to the First Amendment, contrary to popular belief. From Donald Jeffries at donaldjeffries.substack.com:
Do we still have a First Amendment?
I’ve been watching some of the Senate hearings on social media censorship, where Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is the star witness. All Americans should watch these “representatives” in action. Every Democrat now is openly and utterly opposed to any traditional concept of free speech. Violently opposed. It must be seen to be believed.
Opposition to true freedom of speech goes back to the founding of the Republic. Those led by the bankers’ favorite Founder, Alexander Hamilton, never wanted a Bill of Rights. The Constitution only became a palatable alternative to the Articles of Federation because of the inclusion of these precious rights. The second President, John Adams, used the vile Alien and Sedition Acts to lock up those who disagreed with his policies. Abraham Lincoln raised this to a tyrannical art form during the Civil War. Of all the awful precedents “Honest” Abe established, imprisoning his political enemies was the most damaging to the notion of liberty.
Free speech was given a disturbing asterisk during the Woodrow Wilson administration. That highly ranked president threw World War I protesters in prison. They took their case to the Supreme Court, and “liberal” Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes (like Wilson an enthusiastic eugenicist) upheld his right to imprison them. He cited the now infamous “You can’t yell fire in a crowded theater” excuse for doing so. As I have noted many times, those protesting our entrance into World War I were not yelling fire in a crowded theater by any definition. As far as I can determine, there was little or no protest to this landmark ruling, which paved the way for censorship.
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