With Trump in the Oval Office, the US supreme court will find itself having to answer questions it has sidestepped for years
A president who intends to prosecute journalists, deport student protesters, imprison flag-burners, shut down broadcasters and throw the book at whistleblowers – to list just a few of president-elect Donald Trump’s speech-suppressive ideas – is likely to collide very quickly with the first amendment.
But whether the first amendment will be a real obstacle to Trump’s censorial agenda is difficult to predict. Some of Trump’s ideas will require the US supreme court to address free speech questions it has long avoided, while others will implicate precedents that the court may be eager to revisit. Trump has already appointed three of the court’s justices and he may have the opportunity to appoint more – at a time when the very meaning of free speech is deeply contested. So, yes, Trump will run up against the first amendment, but don’t take for granted that he will be thwarted by it.
