Freedom for the thoughts we hate

by Nat Hentoff: What distinguishes us from all other nations is the range and depth of the First Amendment's expressive individual liberties against government control of what we say and think. Having researched and written about it for more than 50 years, I can attest that the most compelling readable account of its tumultuous and often imperiled history is the newly published "Freedom for the Thought That We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment" by Anthony Lewis.

Part of the title comes from Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes' warning of the most powerful need of the First Amendment, especially in times of national danger and epidemics of speech-suppressing political correctness: "If there is any principle of the Constitution that more imperatively calls for attachment than any other, it is the principle of free thought – not free thought for those who agree with us but freedom for the thought that we hate."

I commend the title and the Lewis book to Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., who is still trying to get his expanded "hate speech" legislation to become law. It adds extra prison time not for the actual conviction of violent acts but for the "hateful" speech accompanying them as interpreted by police and prosecutors. Once our republic began, James Madison expected that no American would be punished for his "thoughts." But "hate crimes" laws – vigorously and incredibly supported by the American Civil Liberties Union – are what Madison feared. If these added penalties for thought crimes, also passed overwhelmingly by the House, get to the Oval Office, the president should veto the legislation. . . . [Read More]

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Tags: 1st Amendment, free speech, hate speech, Nat Hentoff To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!