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by dvt 1074 days ago
> How can the government have a monopoly on speech if we're talking about the government being prevented from saying things by a judge?

The judicial branch is supposed to be independent by design[1], so it's of the government, but not quite the government.

[1] https://judiciallearningcenter.org/judicial-independence/
1 comments
staticman2 1074 days ago
So the judicial branch is and is not quite the government, and the government has a mnonopoly on speech even though they can't say things, and I'm being uncharitable by finding this argument less than coherent. Got it.
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dvt 1074 days ago
> (1) So the judicial branch is and is not quite the government, and (2) the government has a mnonopoly on speech even though they can't say things

On (1): yes, that's the idea behind the independent role of the judiciary. They're supposed to be quis custodiet ipsos custodes. Sometimes, it doesn't work out, but usually it does. I'll concede that there's gray area here, but not quite enough to make the argument non-coherent.

On (2): the government can definitely say things (the White House literally has a Communications Director), but also (and more importantly) both stifle and coerce speech. I'm not sure how you came to this second conclusion.

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staticman2 1074 days ago
My issue is your claim the government has a monopoly on speech, not your other claims.

Imagine I'm a visitor from mars and you tell me the government has a monopoly on speech. I say, fascinating, so only the government is allowed to talk?

And you say, well no, anybody can talk, generally.

And I say, oh, do you mean the government does the majority of the talking?

And you say no, most talking is done by private individuals.

And I say oh, do you mean the government decides what people can say?

And you say no, no exactly, see there's these people called judges who are not quite the government who prevent the government from deciding what people can say.

And I'm thinking "?????????"

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dvt 1074 days ago
> My issue is your claim the government has a monopoly on speech, not your other claims.

Ah gotcha, yeah maybe that's too strong of a premise. You can probably fix it by saying "potential monopoly" or something in the vein of "it would be easiest for the government to monopolize speech," as historically, freedom of the press was meant to counter or criticize strong central governments (e.g. monarchies).

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