I’m so proud that, by the end of the semester each time I teach Law & Ethics of Mass Communication, my students know more about the application and reach of the First Amendment than those people who are enriched by their ability to speak publicly.
As I teach, the phrase “Congress shall make no law…abridging freedom of speech, or of the press,” really doesn’t mean what it says. That is, “Congress” doesn’t mean Congress (it includes the states and other government bodies now, thank you very much 14th Amendment), “no law” doesn’t mean no law (there’s balancing that goes on), “speech” doesn’t mean speech (it includes actions and silence, for example), and “press” doesn’t mean press (airwaves, Web, etc.).
That said, the speech/press clause of the First Amendment does VERY CLEARLY only apply to government action. It restricts, in some (if not most) instances, the ability of the government to interefere with our rights to speak and publish.
It does NOT mean people don’t have a right to say whatever they want without fear of repercussions of fellow citizens. That’s the difference between the “marketplace of ideas” and, you know, an actual marketplace.
Ken Paulson of the First Amendment Center gets it right here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews_excl/ynews_excl_pl3441
