Free Speech vs. Security

Freedom of Speech and Homeland Security

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

Benjamin Franklin, 1775

Freedom of speech is one of the essential cornerstones of democratic societies. Absent the right to free speech, democracy cannot function -- one might even say there is no democracy without freedom of speech. While most citizens and members of the governing body of democratic countries firmly subscribe to this conviction, at the time of wars and emergencies some voices begin to question the appropriateness of granting the citizens all civil liberties inherent in democracies. As a temporary war-time measure, often members of the governing body place restrictions on citizens' civil liberties, including their right to free speech. There have been many moments in history when the government of the United States temporarily suspended elements of democratic institutions, the...
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