...limited nature of this right is captured in Blackstone's observation that "[t]he liberty of the press is, indeed, essential to the nature of a free state;...this consists in laying no previous restraints upon publication, and not in freedom from censure for criminal matters when published." "Every freeman has...

...Commentaries on the Law of England, published in 1769, which argued that the "liberty of speech . . . consists in laying no previous restraints upon publications,...from censure for criminal matter when published." As Steven Helle of the University of Illinois points out, one can argue both ends against the middle...

...wished to publish. This had been acknowledged since the eighteenth century. "The liberty of the press is indeed essential to the nature of a free state;...this consists in laying no previous restraints upon publication," William Blackstone pronounced in his legendary Commentaries on the Laws of England in...

...punish "improper, mischievous, or illegal" expression. Blackstone commented, The liberty of the press is indeed essential to the nature of a free state; but this consists of laying no previous restraint upon publications, and not in freedom from censure for criminal matter...

...Adam's pernicious Sedition Act of 1798 was based on a 1769 commentary saying "liberty of the press . . . consists in laying no previous restraints upon publications...from censure for criminal matter when published." Madison believed it a "mockery to say that no law should be passed preventing publications from being...