The Irony of Free Speech

While lawmakers, both liberal and conservative, argue that the state's attempts to limit everything from hate speech to indecency on the Internet and contributions to political campaigns confines individual freedom, Owen M. Fiss, a Sterling Professor at Yale Law School, believes that censorship, to some degree, enhances freedom by broadening "the terms of public discussion." Victims of hate speech and pornography, he contends, are often silenced out of fear or low self-worth, inhibiting their full participation not only in deliberation but in life. Silencing the voices of some in order to hear the voices of others, he maintains, is often the only way to reinforce public debate.