“I stand on my First Amendment rights!”

How many times have we heard that? People invoke the First Amendment in all kinds of situations. But what does it mean that we have the right to free speech?

Justice Thurgood Marshall once said, “our people are guaranteed the right to express any thought, free from government censorship.” And this is probably the most misunderstood facet of the First Amendment. You have the right to say what you like, but you are not protected from the consequences of what you say. The government won’t prevent you from saying it. You won’t be censored, but you’re not protected from losing your job or other negative outcomes.

On Second Thought host Celeste Headlee breaks down free speech with a trip through history, and how the First Amendment has been interpreted through the years. Legal scholar and Washington Post blogger Eugene Volokh also joins in.

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Tags: First Amendment, Eugene Volokh, On Second Thought