In contrast with the 2008 Connecticut case, Sotomayor dissented from a 2002 decision that allowed a New York City Police Department employee to be fired from his desk job for mailing racist and bigoted political material to charitable groups that had solicited him for donations (Pappas v. Giuliani). She agreed that the employee's speech was "patently offensive," but reminded the other judges that the First Amendment protects even speech that the government "does not like." Thus did this minority-group member admirably go against the grain and properly protect even racist speech.
So where exactly does Sotomayor stand on the multifaceted issues of free speech? These are the kinds of questions one hopes will be explored in the Senate's confirmation process. After all, freedom of expression is a prerequisite for citizens to secure all other rights from government intrusion. In the Bill of Rights, it is no accident that free speech is the subject of the First Amendment. "Strict constructionism" is a meaningless and utterly subjective concept — free speech is not.
Related:
Benign neglect?, The 13th Annual Muzzle Awards, Review: Let Freedom Sing! Music of the Civil Rights Movement, More 
- Benign neglect?
If you are gay or lesbian, or if you care about realizing social justice, you must be wondering when Obama is going to turn his attention to the fact that one in 10 of the nation's more than 230 million adults are second-class citizens.
- The 13th Annual Muzzle Awards
A year and a half into the Age of Obama, we are learning a lesson we should have figured out long ago — that repression, once in place, is rarely rolled back all the way, and that liberals no less than conservatives are reluctant to give up power.
- Review: Let Freedom Sing! Music of the Civil Rights Movement
In any given Black History Month, the three-disc Let Freedom Sing: The Music of the Civil Rights Movement would be a powerful anthology.
- A step forward
The nation’s understandable preoccupation with the unfolding economic crisis has overshadowed a significant victory in the battle for same-sex marriage: the Connecticut Supreme Court, on October 10, ruled that gay and lesbian couples have a constitutional right to marry.
- The 12th Annual Muzzle Awards
With the era of repression and secrecy fostered by George W. Bush and Dick Cheney finally over, this should be the best of times for freedom of expression, open government, and civil liberties. Yet change comes slowly.
- Speak no evil?
Anthony Lewis's free-speech credentials are impeccable: among other things, the former New York Times columnist is James Madison Visiting Professor of First Amendment Issues at Columbia University's Journalism School
- Free speech for me, but not for thee
Last Thursday's Supreme Court opinion striking down corporate campaign advertising restrictions might as well have been divorce papers in the rocky marriage between the political left and the First Amendment.
- Critical Mass
If free speech is what gives value to the campus "marketplace of ideas," UMass Amherst would long ago have gone bankrupt.
- Strong-arming the First Amendment
President Barack Obama is a bright guy. In fact, he's a former constitutional-law professor.
- Under attack
Recent decisions by President Barack Obama and Maine Governor John Baldacci have dampened progressive hopes that the Republican-inspired war on civil liberties might be winding down.
- Bully pulpit
While I understand, appreciate, and respect the First Amendment and our right to speak freely, in the case of bullying, Harvey Silverglate makes a dangerous assumption that “civilized people, even teenagers can intuit the difference between protected speech and criminal harassment.”
- Less
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News Features
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