by Robert E. Wright
The American Institute for Economic Research
The title is a double entendre meant as both a synonym for the noun phrase “free speech” and as a normative claim regarding a declarative statement like “policymakers should free expression from unnecessary constraints.” Free Willy, of course, but also free expression!
President Biden was not quite right when he claimed that “no amendment to the Constitution is absolute.” The First Amendment simply recognizes Americans’ absolute natural right to express themselves freely without fear of government interference, be it direct or indirect through corporate regulation. People who understand the Constitution, the gist of Anglo-American jurisprudence, and John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty distinguish between the right to use a tool, be it words or firearms, and the uses to which that tool are put.