Usually, however, people who say "the Constitution is not a suicide pact" view that statement as a trump card. This policy might be unconstitutional, they implicitly concede, but we should pursue it anyway because the stakes are too high to follow "doctrinaire logic" rather than "practical wisdom." That way of thinking is tantamount to saying that... See more

"A function of free speech under our system of government is to invite dispute," Justice William O. Douglas wrote for the majority in Terminiello v. Chicago . "It may indeed best serve its high purpose when it induces a condition of unrest, creates dissatisfaction with conditions as they are, or even stirs people to anger. Speech is often... See more