“The legislature of the United States shall pass no law on the subject of religion nor touching or abridging the liberty of the press.”

Resolution offered in the Philadelphia Convention, May 29, 1787. The United States Constitution was enacted without any protection for religion or the press, but with the understanding that a Bill of Rights would shortly be enacted to address these concerns.

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Charles Cotesworth Pinckney 2
American politician 1746–1825

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Disputed

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“I read "no law . . . abridging" to mean no law abridging.”

Hugo Black (1886–1971) U.S. Supreme Court justice

Concurring opinion, Smith v. California, 361 U.S. 147 (1959).
Context: The First Amendment's language leaves no room for inference that abridgments of speech and press can be made just because they are slight. That Amendment provides, in simple words, that "Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press." I read "no law... abridging" to mean no law abridging.

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