To Protect Legitimate Speech, Get Serious About Penalizing Civil Terrorism

In our polarized era, there are fewer and fewer spaces where people who disagree can do so productively and in good faith. The Dispatch’s Debate Series aims to be an outlier: a regular feature where two writers with opposing views can hash out some of the thorniest political and cultural issues roiling the national conversation. If you have an idea for a future topic, please let us know at debates@thedispatch.com. Turn any article into a podcast. Upgrade now to start listening. Members can share articles with friends & family to bypass the paywall. Anyone who has studied the First Amendment knows the phrase “time, place, and manner.” It refers to categories of restrictions on speech that are usually constitutional. Noise ordinances do not violate the First Amendment, even though they limit people’s ability to speak as loudly as they want, wherever and whenever they want. Tal Fortgang is a contributing writer for The Dispatch and legal policy fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Read the Counterpoint ‘Civil Terrorism’ Is a Dangerous Category Error