A new Supreme Court case asks whether children still have First Amendment rights

Let’s give credit where it is due. The current Supreme Court has a decent record on free speech issues.

There have been some worrisome moves, such as the Court’s decision not to immediately reverse an appeals court decision that stripped activists of their right to organize street protests. But a bipartisan alliance of six justices have largely resisted efforts by states and the federal government to regulate speech.

Most significantly, in Moody v. Netchoice (2024) three Republican justices — Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — joined the Court’s three Democrats in rejecting a Texas law that attempted to take control of content moderation at major social media sites like Facebook or YouTube. According to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, the purpose of t