The Irony of Free Speech

How free is the speech of someone who can't be heard? Not very - and this, Owen Fiss suggests is where the First Amendment comes in. He reframes the debate by showing how restrictions on political expenditures, hate speech, and pornography can be defended in terms of the First Amendment, not despite it. He reminds us that the state can be the friend of freedom, protecting and fostering speech that might otherwise die unheard, depriving our democracy of the full range and richness of its composition.