Ted Lieu Quotes

Without debate, without criticism, no Administration and no country can succeed — and no republic can survive. ... And that is why our press was protected by the First Amendment — the only business in America specifically protected by the Constitution.

When someone has to intervene to defend the liberty of the press, that society is sick.

I'm not a big fan of regulation: anyone who likes freedom of the press can't be.

I can only assume that your editorial writer tripped over the First Amendment and thought it was the office cat.

If you don't think a television news show represents the truth, you can turn off your TV. If you don't think a magazine represents the truth, you can cancel your subscription. You have the right to expose yourself to whatever information you want. But to have the government prescribing what the truth is or limiting the information available for the citizen is contrary to the 1st Amendment.

Somebody ought to do on article on you, on your damn profession, your 1st Amendment.

A free press may be good or bad, but without freedom a press can only be bad.

We must have a free press. If we are to maintain democracxy as we know it, we must have a free and adversarial press.... That's how dictoators get power [by intimidating, restriciting and censoring the press.]

The press is the only institution that is truly accountable. The founding fathers put the First Amendment first for a reason.

Although I may find the type of programming seen during the 2004 Super Bowl and the 2003 Golden Globe Awards disgusting and disturbing, we must always work hard to defend the cherished freedoms so clearly outlined in our Constitution, including a healthy and free press.

The United States is paradise compared to China, Russia, Ecuador and Cuba, with regard to the press. And with regard to secrecy and transparency.

The press doesn't stop publishing, by the way, in a fascist escalation; it simply watches what it says. That too can be an incremental process, and the pace at which the free press polices itself depends on how journalists are targeted.

We believe that the remedy to any harm resulting from press freedom lies in press freedom itself.

The newspapers of your country seem to be more powerful than the government.

The press must be free; it has always been so and much evil has been corrected by it. If Government finds itself annoyed by it, let it examine its own conduct and it will find the cause.

The state must not ... let itself be confused by the drivel about so-called "freedom of the press," ... it must make sure of this instrument of popular education, and place it in the service of the state.

I believe that the defendants had as much right to publish as the Government has to publish the Constitution.

The suppression of the Socialist press has actually been more rapid and efficient in this republic than it was in the German Empire after the declaration of war. And as for our celebrated Anglo-Saxon tradition of free speech—you can’t even collect your thoughts without getting arrested for unlawful assemblage!

The press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of government and inform the people. Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government.

Of all times in time of war the press should be free.

You really can’t have a democracy if the government knows the content of every conversation between journalists and their sources. You can’t have a democracy with that kind of surveillance going on.

The 1st Amendment does not mandate that the press be accurate.

What is the liberty of the press? Who can give it any definition that would not leave the utmost latitude for evasion …. Its [the press's] security … must altogether depend on public opinion.

A free press stands as one of the great interpreters between the government and the people. To allow it to be fettered is to fetter ourselves.

Prior restraints on speech and publication are the most serious and least tolerable infringement on First Amendment Rights.