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Article: Outlawing the Federalist Papers: can free speech be anonymous too?
- Article from:
- Reason
- Article date:
- April 1, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1995 Reason Foundation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Publius would have to watch his back in Ohio these days. The Supreme Court will decide this term whether or not to remedy this situation.
Early American patriots often used pseudonyms like Publius (used by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay when they wrote the Federalist Papers) when they advocated political change. But Ohio doesn't like the idea of anonymity in political pamphleteering.
One reason to crave anonymity in political speech is fear of reprisal from vengeful officials. In 1988, this fear came to life for Margaret McIntyre of Westerville, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus.
McIntyre was accused by an angry school-board official of ...