VIEWPOINT | No matter the threat, we must ensure our First Amendment protections stay robust

Guest column by Libby Skarin, American Civil Liberties Union

Freedom of speech, the press, association, assembly, and petition: This set of guarantees, protected by the First Amendment, comprises what we refer to as freedom of expression. It is the foundation of a vibrant democracy, and without it, other fundamental rights would wither away.

The fight for freedom of speech has been a bedrock of the ACLU’s mission since the organization was founded in 1920, driven by the need to protect the constitutional rights of conscientious objectors and anti-war protesters. At the time of our founding, the Supreme Court had yet to uphold a single free speech claim, and in fact regularly justified the repression of speech, of the press and of the right to assemble. However, with passage of the Espionage Act of 1918, thousands of people were prosecuted for expressing their views, most of them simply for speaking out against the war. The public was newly awakened to the dangers of allowing the government to silence its critics.

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Our work quickly spread to combating censorship, securing the right to assembly and promoting free speech in schools. Before the ACLU took on novel court cases establishing the right to free speech, Americans couldn’t be certain that the government wouldn’t throw a person in jail for organizing public meetings of people with similar (but unpopular) political beliefs or ban high school students from wearing symbols of their opposition to war.  

More than a century later, these battles have taken on new forms, but they still persist. That’s why we continue to champion freedom of expression in all forms – protest, media, online speech, the arts and more. No matter how big or small the threat, we are always on guard to ensure that our First Amendment protections remain robust.