4.2.12 WC: 191694 Part II: The changing sound and look of freedom of speech: from the Pentagon Papers to Wikileaks and from Harry Reems’ Deep Throat to Woodward and Bernstein’s “Deep Throat.” Chapter 5: The Changing First Amendment—New Meanings For Old Words I always wanted to be a First Amendment lawyer. Everything in my upbringing and education led me to the defense of freedom of speech. I was always a dissident—though they used the less polite term “trouble-maker.” I argued with everyone, all the time. I defended other trouble- makers. I questioned everything and everybody. I may have had a Fifth Amendment right to “remain silent,” but I rarely exercised it. I spoke up. For me, the freedom to speak, to write, to dissent, to seek a redress of grievances, to assemble, to doubt, to challenge, has always been central not only to democratic governance but to life itself. The First Amendment has always been my favorite part of the Constitution, not because it is first among the Amendments—in its original, proposed form, it was the Third Amendment*’—but because without its protection, all other rights are in danger. Not everyone agrees. Listen to Charlton Heston: “I say that the Second Amendment is, in order of importance, the first amendment. It is America's First Freedom, the one right that protects all the others. Among freedom of speech, of the press, of religion, of assembly, of redress of grievances, it is the first among equals. It alone offers the absolute capacity to live without fear. The right to keep and bear arms is the one right that allows 'rights' to exist at all.” Both history and geography have proved Heston wrong: Nearly every other freedom loving country in the world has severe restrictions on gun ownership; while none has severe restrictions on expression. The stirring words of the First Amendment—“Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech or of the press...”—haven’t been amended between my first case defending freedom of expressi