The best interpretation of the original meaning of "speech" and "press"
is that "speech" is the creation of an informative message and "press"
the dissemination of such a message, by whatever means anyone or
anything may choose. The First Amendment therefore says that Congress
shall not in any way restrict the production or propagation of
communications. It is reinforced by the absence of any delegation of
powers to do most of the things that raise the issue. By the common law
rules of construction, powers are to be strictly construed, and if
there is any doubt whether an official has a power, the presumption
must be that he does not.
Citizens United was correctly decided not just because the First
Amendment forbade such a statute, but because there is no authority to
adopt such a statute even if there were no First Amendment. It makes no
difference what kind of thing is doing the communicating. The same
principle applies to anything, whether it be a human individual, a
corporation, an animal, a space alien, or the fungal and algal
components of a lichen communicating chemically to symbiose. "No law"
means no law. Period. The prohibition is absolute and has no
exceptions. If you think that impractically severe, amend the
Constitution.
-- Jon
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Constitution Society http://constitution.org
2900 W Anderson Ln C-200-322 Austin, TX 78757
512/299-5001 jon.roland@constitution.org
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