"Under our Constitution, anonymous pamphleteering is not a pernicious, fraudulent practice, but an honorable tradition of advocacy and of dissent. Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority. … It thus exemplifies the purpose behind the Bill of Rights, and of the First Amendment in particular: to protect unpopular individuals from retaliation--and their ideas from suppression--at the hand of an intolerant society. The right to remain anonymous may be abused when it shields fraudulent conduct. But political speech by its nature will sometimes have unpalatable consequences, and, in general, our society accords greater weight to the value of free speech than to the dangers of its misuse."
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Academics from the United StatesJustices of the Supreme Court of the United StatesLawyers from the United StatesPresidential Medal of Freedom recipientsPeople from Chicago
Original Language: English
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McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission (Majority opinion, 514 U.S. 334 (1995)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Paul_Stevens
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John Paul Stevens
John Paul Stevens (April 20, 1920 — July 16, 2019) was an American lawyer and judge who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1975 until his retirement in 2010.
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