The Descent into Free Speech and Originalism Madness at the University of Florida
For decades, I have argued that the United States Supreme Court has over-protected speech at the expense of other important values. Whether it be allowing the wealthy to control our elections because "money is speech," defining "true threats" much too narrowly , or pretending that mandatory public sector union dues are forbidden by the First Amendment as compelled speech, our justices since the middle of the 20th century have zealously guarded the right of people to injure others through the spoken and written word far more than any other country in world history. Of course, free speech is crucial to any free nation. But there are other important values, such as equality and democracy, that judges must protect as well. But not here, not really. On Saturday morning, the New York Times ran a story about a student at the University of Florida, in a class taught by a federal judge, who won a best paper award for arguing that "We the People" includes only w...