Quote of the day—Justice Anthony Kennedy

A law found to discriminate based on viewpoint is an “egregious form of content discrimination,” which is “presumptively unconstitutional.” … A law that can be directed against speech found offensive to some portion of the public can be turned against minority and dissenting views to the detriment of all. The First Amendment does not entrust that power to the government’s benevolence. Instead, our reliance must be on the substantial safeguards of free and open discussion in a democratic society.

Justice Anthony Kennedy
June 19, 2017
MATAL, INTERIM DIRECTOR, UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE v. TAM
[H/T to Eugene Volokh and Say Uncle.

This should give gun owners protection against having their Second Amendment rights infringed upon because they belong to some extremist group such as the NRA or the Republican party.—Joe]

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2 thoughts on “Quote of the day—Justice Anthony Kennedy

  1. We knew that already of course, and didn’t need SCOTUS to tell us. All this means then, is that SCOTUS hasn’t decided to go full-on corrupt at this juncture. They have to work progressively toward full corruption or it doesn’t work as effectively (insert “frog in the pot” analogy), which we also already knew.

    • In general, ordinary people have no trouble reading the plain English of the Constitution. It’s only lawyers and their ilk that do what Jefferson described:

      Laws are made for men of ordinary understanding and should therefore be construed by the ordinary rules of common sense; and their meaning is not to be sought for in metaphysical subtleties which may make anything mean everything or nothing at pleasure

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