Got liberty?
This week, the Supreme Court said the .gov can force people to pay for government advertising that they may not endorse:
A divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the federal government can have cattle ranchers pay for an industry marketing program, known for its “Beef, It’s What’s for Dinner” advertisements.
By a 6-3 vote, the high court handed a victory to the government. It said the generic advertising at issue is the government’s own speech and therefore exempt from the First Amendment free-speech challenge that had been brought.
The government, essentially, can force you to fund their message. Compelled speech doesn’t sound very first amendmenty.
May 24th, 2005 at 11:29 am
It’s almost worse than you describe, isn’t it? The government, essentially, can force people to fund a special interest private sector industry message that isn’t really even the government’s well-considered message at all.
May 25th, 2005 at 12:34 am
have you not ever seen anti-drug advertising?