Ken White over at law blog Popehat has written a very useful article on whether or not Trump is likely to be the existential threat to free speech that so many are concerned about.
Fortunately, he argues that free speech is pretty well protected at the judicial level, adding that most contemporary attempts to whittle away at First Amendment rights actually emanate from “liberal” judges targeting hate speech, as opposed to conservative ones.
Here are notable excerpts from, Lawsplainer: About Trump “Opening Up” Libel Laws:
Donald Trump famously said he’d like to “open up” libel laws. How much should that concern you?
From my perspective — as a First Amendment advocate and an opponent of Trump — it should concern you as an attitude about speech, but not much as a policy agenda.
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