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This thought was eloquently expressed in 1937 by Mr. Chief Justice Hughes—great man and fantastic Chief Justice that he was when the Court held a man could not be punished for attending a meeting run by Communists. Such was the basic view held when the Very first Amendment was adopted, and ever because. [Footnote two/two] Congress under no circumstances has sought to challenge this viewpoint by passing any civil libel law. It did pass the Sedition Act in 1798, [Footnote 2/3] which produced it a crime — “seditious libel” — to criticize federal officials or the Federal Government. This discovery...