As a matter of constitutional tradition, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, we presume that governmental regulation of the content of speech is more likely to interfere with the free exchange of ideas than to encourage it. The interest in encouraging freedom of expression in a democratic society outweighs any theoretical but unproven benefit of censorship.

John Paul Stevens (1920-2019) American lawyer, US Supreme Court Justice (1975-2010)
Janet Reno et al. v. ACLU et al. (1997) [Majority Opinion]

 
Added on 1-Feb-04 | Last updated 16-Jul-13
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