Comments on: “Is Money Speech?”

By: Paul Westlake

Paul Westlake — Sun, 29 Sep 2013 06:39:22 +0000

Hugo, no, it wasn’t. Freedom of the press prevents the government from prohibiting the application of the truth as a defense in cases of libel against the government or its agencies and officers. This was known as “seditious libel” in British Common Law. The “press” is not merely printing, otherwise every piece of literature ever printed would be covered by freedom of the press. Truth is protected by freedom of the press. Everything else is protected by freedom of speech.

By: shg

shg — Thu, 12 Sep 2013 14:41:20 +0000

Not a dissent, really, but more an agnostic disinclined to let facile explanations go without some scrutiny. I see merit (and problems) with both sides of the issue.

By: Hugo S. Cunningham

Hugo S. Cunningham — Thu, 12 Sep 2013 14:11:11 +0000

Money is not speech, but it is a crucial component of the mass dissemination of speech. In the late 1780s, the term of art for mass dissemination of speech was “the press.”