Rights Speech

Chapter 2 examines the regulation of “rights speech”—communications about or concerning the recognition, scope, or exercise of constitutional rights. It categorizes and discusses the constitutional implications of different types of rights speech (ideological, informational, and consultative communications) and rights speakers (private, professional, and governmental). The chapter highlights the critical importance of the Free Speech Clause to both healthy and robust constitutional discourse and, in many cases, the effective exercise of constitutional rights. It advocates careful scrutiny, under the Free Speech Clause, of rights speech regulations affecting private and professional communications and offers suggestions for limiting the potential harms of governmental rights speech. The chapter also advocates focusing greater attention on the underlying rights that are affected by rights speech regulations.