Free speech for the rich and powerful-I

Salon.com: By Garrett Epps

'Where the First Amendment is implicated,' Chief Justice John Roberts wrote this week in an important free-speech opinion, 'the tie goes to the speaker, not the censor.'

It's a comforting thought, and a nice example of the kind of judicial rhetoric Americans are used to. ...

Unfortunately, the implication that this court defends First Amendment rights is pretty much hogwash. If one carefully reads all three of these First Amendment cases, the court is really saying that the tie goes to speakers who have money and power. That is, if the speaker is rich and influential, then free speech wins. If not, free speech loses. Taken together, the cases give a picture of a new court majority that takes a very narrow view of free speech and a deferential approach to bureaucrats who seek to shape American culture from the top down. ...