"If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion. . . .
"Those who begin coercive elimination of dissent soon find themselves exterminating dissenters. Compulsory unification of opinion achieves only the unanimity of the graveyard."
In these ringing polysyllables, the U.S. Supreme Court this week reaffirmed its faith in the Bill of Rights—which, in 1940, it had come perilously close to outlawing. In a 6-to-3 decision, the Court reversed its 1940 stand and now declared that West...
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