The First Amendment applies even to low-life liars.
For that reason, one of the criminal counts against Scott Ziegler, the school superintendent of Loudoun County, Virginia, probably ought to be dismissed, and the Virginia statute on which it is based probably should be declared unconstitutional.Granted, some of us experienced justifiable schadenfreude at the news that Ziegler, who inexcusably mishandled a sexual assault incident perpetrated by a cross-dressing boy in a girls’ bathroom, has been fired and indicted.
On its face, this statute appears unconstitutional. It almost surely violates the free speech protections of the First Amendment. Yes, courts have recognized that the amendment never protected libel or defamation from being punished, and there also is an exception for direct verbal threats and for fraud. Aside from that, though, the amendment protects free speech, including lies, from government penalty.
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