| Vital Issues of the Past Decade |
| THE OLD APHORISM that the more things change the more they remain the same applies to a considerable extent in the field of censorship and intellectual freedom. Nevertheless, old issues take new directions, legal aspects receive new interpretations, opposing forces re-group and fluctuate, while the objects of attack vary from perennial favorites to nine days' wonders. The overall impression is described by the French phrase dj vu. |
| Dr. McCoy's monumental bibliography on Freedom of the Press, for which the present work provides an extensive supplement, is predominantly concerned with the American scene, but it contains a representative selection of British, Canadian, Australian, and other entries from English-speaking areas of the world to demonstrate the international nature of the struggle to maintain the freedom of the mind everywhere. The picture would be far grimmer, of course, in the repressive dictatorial regimes behind the Iron Curtain and among many nations of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, whose people remain helpless under the heels of ruthless tyrants. |
| It is refreshing and heartening to note the continued interest in the historical aspects of speech and press freedom. One who refuses to learn from the lessons of history is doomed to repeat its mistakes. We should never forget that the First Amendment's prohibition against interference with free speech and free press was a direct consequence of centuries of bitter experience living under extremely repressive English laws controlling speech and press. The authority of government was long regarded as supreme, irresistible, and absolute. Any criticism of the government was viewed as dangerous heresy which must be ruthlessly put down. That entire concept was rejected by the First Amendment. Thomas Jefferson's warning that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance is borne out by the unremitting efforts in the Supreme Court, the U.S. Congress, state legislatures, and other agencies to modify, soften, weaken, or redefine the simple principle that "Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press." |
| Scattered throughout the McCoy record are numerous references to past events, such as the trial of Peter Zenger, the martyrdom of Elijah Lovejoy, and the fanaticism of Comstockery, as well as more recent happenings, such as the A. Mitchell Palmer "Red Raids" of the nineteen twenties and Senator Joseph McCarthy's witchhunts of the nineteen fifties. But recent writings on these historical matters have not been simply threshing over old straw. Through sound research and proper historical perspective, they have brought new interpretations and new insights to bear on familiar subjects. |
| Though we have continued to be preoccupied with the same or similar problems year after year, new issues have risen during the past decade, in response to new pressures, new legislation, and recent legal decisions, especially at the Supreme Court level. It will be the purpose of the present discussion to review and analyse a number of the most vital issues as they have developed during the ten-year period, 196777. |
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