Anthony Lewis on Freedom for the Thought That We Hate

“Nowadays, it is hard to imagine any revelation so intimate that it would offend the public's sense of decency.”

“I am convinced that the fundamental American commitment to free speech, disturbing speech, is no longer in doubt.”

“There will always be authorities who try to make their own lives more comfortable by suppressing critical comment.”

“It took more than a century for (our) courts to begin protecting speakers and publishers from official repression in the United States.”

“Today, every president is the target of criticism and mockery. It is inconceivable that even the most caustic critic would be imprisoned for his or her words.”

“Americans should scent danger when a government tries to stop a newspaper from disclosing the origins of an unpopular war ... or accuses a newspaper of endangering national security by disclosing secret and illegal wiretapping.”

“The law of the American Constitution allows suppression only when violence or violation of law are intended by speakers and are likely to take place imminently. But perhaps judges, and the rest of us, will be more on guard now for the rare act of expression — not the burning of a flag or the racist slang of an undergraduate — that is genuinely dangerous. I think we should be able to punish speech that urges terrorist violence to an audience some of whose members are ready to act on the urging. That is imminence enough.”

“Ours is the most outspoken society on Earth. Americans are freer to think what we will and say what we think than any other people, and freer today than in the past. We can bare the secrets of government and the secrets of the bedroom. We can denounce our rulers, and each other, with little fear of the consequences. There is almost no chance that a court will stop us from publishing what we wish: in print, on air, or on the Web. Hateful and shocking expression, political or artistic, is almost all free to enter the marketplace of ideas.”