Editorial
New York Times
21 June 2010
The Supreme Court upheld a federal law making it a crime to provide “material support” to groups like the Kurdish Workers’ Party. Some members of that party were at a rally in southeastern Turkey in 2009.
Forty-three years ago, when the nation lived in fear of Communist sympathizers and saboteurs, the Supreme Court said that even the need for national defense could not reduce the First Amendment rights of those associating with American Communists.
On Monday, in the first case since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to test free speech against the demands of national security in the age of terrorism, the ideals of an earlier time were eroded and free speech lost. By preserving an extremely vague prohibition on aiding and associating with terrorist groups, the court reduced the First Amendment rights of American citizens.
Click to continue reading “A Bruise on the First Amendment”
