After this, we're going to have to agree to disagree.
But as a matter of law, the First Amendment doesn't contain a clause saying, "except for its own creations." It simply says that the government may not make a law restricting speech, which is exactly what that law was. You're still trying to make a distinction between affected and non-affected entities, where the Constitution makes no such distinction. The First Amendment limits the government, and prevents the government from imposing other limitations.... period.
(You then compound this by making distinctions based not only on type of entity, but also on purpose of entity-- non-profit vs for-profit corporation. This is exactly the kind of slippery slope the First Amendment is supposed to avoid.)
Finally, consider the places that this sort of ability might lead: Can Congress pass laws preventing all corporate entities from publicly criticizing the government? By your theory, yes, of course, since the government "creates" the organizations. That's a mild example of the abuses that inhere in such a philosophy, and I already find the idea repellent.
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Date: 2010-01-25 05:42 pm (UTC)But as a matter of law, the First Amendment doesn't contain a clause saying, "except for its own creations." It simply says that the government may not make a law restricting speech, which is exactly what that law was. You're still trying to make a distinction between affected and non-affected entities, where the Constitution makes no such distinction. The First Amendment limits the government, and prevents the government from imposing other limitations.... period.
(You then compound this by making distinctions based not only on type of entity, but also on purpose of entity-- non-profit vs for-profit corporation. This is exactly the kind of slippery slope the First Amendment is supposed to avoid.)
Finally, consider the places that this sort of ability might lead: Can Congress pass laws preventing all corporate entities from publicly criticizing the government? By your theory, yes, of course, since the government "creates" the organizations. That's a mild example of the abuses that inhere in such a philosophy, and I already find the idea repellent.