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Government Quotes

“From the standpoint of freedom of speech and the press, it is enough to point out that the state has no legitimate interest in protecting any or all religions from views distasteful to them... It is not the business of government to suppress real or imagined attacks upon a particular religious doctrine.”

Real States Enough Government Interest Religious Views Liberty Particular Speech Presses Doctrine Freedom Of Speech Standpoint Distasteful

Author:Tom C. Clark

“The Framers of the First Amendment were not concerned with preventing government from abridging their freedom to speak about crops and cockfighting, or with protecting the expressive activity of topless dancers, which of late has found some shelter under the First Amendment. Rather, the Framers cherished unabridged freedom of political communication.”

Source: With a Happy Eye, But...: America and the World, 1997--2002

“Effective self-government cannot succeed unless the people are immersed in a steady, robust, unimpeded, and uncensored flow of opinion and reporting which are continuously subjected to critique, rebuttal, and reexamination.”

People Self Government Opinion Succeed Flow Steady Freedom Of Speech Critique Robust Self-government Rebuttal

Author:William O. Douglas

“The First Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment rights in the United States Constitution were being violated in Albany again and again - freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, the equal protection of the laws - I could count at least 30 such violations. Yet the president, sworn to uphold the Constitution, and all the agencies of the United States government at his disposal, were nowhere to be seen.”

“The Government may not suppress lawful speech as the means to suppress unlawful speech.”

May Mean Government Speech Freedom Of Speech Unlawful

Author:Anthony Kennedy

“As a conservative who believes in limited government, I believe the only check on government power in real time is a free and independent press. A free press ensures the flow of information to the public, and let me say, during a time when the role of government in our lives and in our enterprises seems to grow every day--both at home and abroad - ensuring the vitality of a free and independent press is more important than ever.”

“The dissemination of the individual's opinions on matters of public interest is for us, in the historic words of the Declaration of Independence, an 'unalienable right' that 'governments are instituted among men to secure.' History shows us that the Founders were not always convinced that unlimited discussion of public issues would be 'for the benefit of all of us' but that they firmly adhered to the proposition that the 'true liberty of the press' permitted 'every man to publish his opinion'.”

“Regardless of all of the ways that the media have changed in recent years, one thing that will never go out of style in America is the ability of a free press to keep the public accurately and honestly informed about its government.”

Way Years Government America Ability One Thing Media Style Changed Presses Honestly Freedom Of Speech Free Press Year One

Author:Candice S. Miller

“Censorship' is a term pertaining only to governmental action. No private action is censorship. No private individual or agency can silence a man or suppress a publication; only the government can do so. The freedom of speech of private individuals includes the right not to agree, not to listen and not to finance one's own antagonists.”

Men Government Action Individual Term Can Do Silence Speech Agree Finance Agency Censorship Freedom Of Speech Publication Antagonist

Book:The Ayn Rand Lexicon: Objectivism from A to Z

Source: The Ayn Rand Lexicon: Objectivism from A to Z

“It's not about contraception. It's about economic liberty, it's about freedom of speech, it's about freedom of religion, it's about government control of your lives and it's got to stop!”

Government Liberty Economic Speech Freedom Of Speech Freedom Of Religion Contraception Control Of Your Life

Author:Rick Santorum