Letters to the Editor

First Amendment, hate speech, and the press

To the editor:

In last month's responses to the Letter to the Editor, "Why publish the hate speech?", Mr. Yorde and Ms. Madetzke were both quick to bring up the 1st Amendment. Mr. Yorde even quoted it in his response: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof or abridging the freedom of speech…".

In their rush to insist their constitutional right to express a view that many find hateful, they both forgot the very first word of the amendment: Congress. Unless something very strange happened recently, the Marshall Independent is neither the United States Congress or any other government institution. It is a private business with every right to decide what is or is not fit for publication.

We can certainly disagree on what is hate speech (statutory definitions aside), but we should all be able to agree that there is no constitutional mandate requiring the press to publish what appears to be hate speech should they choose not to.

Jon Chalmers

Tracy