Justice Alito s First Amendment – WSJ

Justice Samuel Alito, by contrast, vigorously rejects the anything-goes theory. The First Amendment was not intended to prohibit any regulation of speech, he said in a Journal interview on July 7. On occasion that view has left him alone in dissent against a free-speech claim.

Even so, in the vast majority of cases he s a strong defender of the freedom of speech. He accepts Holmes s dictum and cited it in Matal v. Tam (2017), in which the court held that the government had violated a rock band s constitutional rights by denying its trademark application for its racially insensitive name.

In oral arguments, Justice Alito has a knack for posing scenarios that reveal the untenability of speech restrictions, particularly on political speech. In Minnesota Voters Alliance v. Mansky (2018), the court reviewed a statute banning political attire at polling places. Justice Alito asked if a National Rifle Association T-shirt would be permitted.

No, it would not, the state s lawyer said.

How about a shirt with the text of the Second Amendment?

I think that would be viewed as political.

How about the First Amendment? The lawyer said that would be OK but couldn t explain why. He lost the case.

via www.wsj.com