Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Freedom of the Press

Reading "Original Intent" by David Barton
... too often today the Constitutional guarantees of freedom of the press and speech have been misinterpreted to protect the irresponsible and even irrational exercises of personal vindictive prerogatives.  Without the requirement of accountability, Justice Joseph Story warned us that the press would "become the scourge of the republic, first denouncing the principles of liberty, and then, by rendering the most virtuous patriots odious through the terrors of the press, introducing despotism in its worst form."
He served as Supreme Court Justice from 1811 to 1845.   Prophetic, no?

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