< P > I n 1 9 9 3 , N a t H e n t o f f w r o t e a b o o k t i t l e d “ F r e e S p e e c h f o r M e b u t [...]

In 1993, Nat Hentoff wrote a book titled “Free Speech for Me but Not for Thee: How the American Right and Left Relentlessly Censor Each Other.” After amply documenting this thesis, Hentoff concluded that the human animal’s urge to censor was at least as strong, and perhaps stronger, than its sex drive.   Whatever the [...]

The recent revelations and speculation about Karl Rove’s possible role in outing Valerie Palme have eclipsed, for the general public at least, what has come to be called the ‘Judith Miller issue’ despite the fact that Miller is serving a jail sentence for refusing to name her source.

A friend of mine once summed up the purpose of Bill of Rights by analogy; as he put it, "Poison gas is a great weapon until the wind changes." The best reason for refusing to allow government to suppress bad ideas is that tomorrow, government may use that authority to suppress good ones. Our legal [...]

One of my favorite free speech stories concerns a young man who called me back in my ICLU days, to complain that a local fast-food chain wouldn’t hire him because he was tattooed all over. They found it unappetizing, and worried that customers might also. "Don’t I have a First Amendment right to express myself?" [...]