Sarah Evans Barker Quote

"To permit every interest group, especially those who claim to be victimized by unfair expression, their own legislative exceptions to the First Amendment so long as they succeed in obtaining a majority of legislative votes in their favor demonstrates the potentially predatory nature of what defendants seek through this Ordinance."

by:	Sarah Evans Barker Judge, U. S. District Court
Source:	Decision overturning Indianapolis Pornography Ordinance, 19 November, 1984
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Categories:	Constitution, Democracy, Election, Press, Sexuality, Vote
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I didn't look up 'this ordinance', because the here stated principle is true.  -- Mike, Norwalk
A very important truth. Mark Twain's statement that when you find your opinion is in agreement with the majority you'd better rethink. The majority would never have accepted the Bill of Rights.  -- Dick, Fort Worth
-- Anonymous, Reston, VA US
Yet every interest group has legislative exceptions. It's a hate crime if the victim is gay, black or Muslim, and illegal to murder a pregnant woman. What about a white male victim or murdering a non-pregnant woman? Is that somehow better?  -- Joe, Rochester, MI
Society has found a middle ground -- not forbidding free expression, but regulating it when necessary, like forbidding false alarms like "fire” or "bomb" in crowded theaters or airline terminals which may incite panic, or any knowingly false or libelous statement to inflict personal damage to others, or limiting prurient, excessively violent, or offensive material to specific places and times. Our founders could not have meant freedom of speech to actually harm others with it. They meant, don't forbid it just because you don't agree with it, but keep it out of someone else's face, so to speak, and don’t cause harm to anyone by it. That's the essence of the first Amendment  -- Jack, Green, OH
Bravo.  -- E Archer, NYC

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