The overarching theme of this year’s Law Day, Free Speech, Free Press, Free Society, is freedom of expression, the bedrock upon which our constitutional democracy is built. The unprecedented assault upon this precious freedom by our current President and his supporters is dangerous and alarming, as it undermines the American public’s confidence in the institutions of government—Congress, the Executive Branch and the Judiciary, as well as the press. The vitality and future of our constitutional democracy is threatened when the public loses confidence in its most basic institutions and ideals.

The first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution were adopted in 1792, three years after adoption of the Constitution itself, and are commonly referred to as the Bill of Rights. The first of those amendments provides the essential support for the most fundamental of all rights, the right of free expression of ideas.