The letter “You still have the right to say what you want” (Feb. 18, TribLIVE) doesn’t say a word about consequences. For example, everyone knows you can’t shout “Fire!” in a crowded theater. You can’t threaten to harm or kill anyone, either. Gadflies like Rudy Giuliani and Sydney Powell have both learned that you can’t practice law anymore when you lie too often in court.

“Conservative” media such as Fox News are now being sued for more than $1 billion because texts, emails and official corporate documents show that they deliberately lied about Dominion voting machines and voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Then the U.S. Capitol was sacked, and people died. Since then, several hundred Trump supporters have gone to prison.

Threats, libel, slander, malicious medical advice and conspiracy theories that encourage violent sedition are not protected by the First Amendment.

Right-wing whiners like to blame “the woke mob” for censoring conservative speech. Don’t laws, common decency and honesty have anything to do with it?

Jim Harger

New Kensington

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