The Necessity of Freedom
FREEDOM OF SPEECH and of the press -- that is, freedom of inquiry, criticism, and dissent -- are guaranteed in state and federal constitutions now over a century and a half old. It is a sobering fact, however, that each generation has to vindicate these freedoms anew, and for itself. Yet this is not wholly a misfortune; one might almost see in it Providential wisdom. For there are risks in taking things for granted, risks not only of failure to appreciate them but of failure to understand them. Freedoms vindicated anew are more precious than those achieved without effort, and only those who are required to justify freedom can fully understand it.
Certainly the responsibility of vindicating the claims of freedom confronts us now in urgent fashion. There have been previous examples of a challenge to freedom in our own history -- the
-3-
