Taking Legitimacy Seriously: A Return to Deontology
Eric Heinze · Constitutional Commentary · 2015
Opponents of hate speech bans commonly suggest that messages can enjoy full freedom of expression, but government may nevertheless legitimately regulate the manner of expression. That is often true, as with adjusting noise volumes or preventing litter. However, hate speech bans always impose penalties solely on the basis of offensive or provocative viewpoints, and therefore can never plausibly be called regulations of the sheer manner of expression.