1 Basic Principles of Free Speech The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution includes the constitu- tional right of freedom of speech. The amendment reads as follows: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assem- ble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. The inclusion of freedom of speech in the “First” Amendment is an implicit acknowledgment of the importance of free speech for the U.S. system of government and for American society in general. The meaning of this constitutional right has evolved over the course of American his- tory. It began primarily as a fairly narrow right prohibiting the government from imposing “prior restraints” on publishers. “Prior restraints” were laws that prevented anyone from engaging in publication without a govern- ment license. Understood in this way, free speech did not prevent the government from punishing someone for what was published. However, early in the nation’s history, in reaction to the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, many Americans interpreted free speech to preclude the govern- ment from punishing “seditious libel,” which was generally defi ned as any publication that encouraged disrespect of governmental institutions, the law, or public offi cials. Following the election of 1800, President Thomas Jefferson pardoned those still serving sentences under the Sedition Act,
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