Let free speech ring on this Independence Day

As Americans celebrate the Fourth of July with barbecues, parades and family gatherings, it’s worth noting the United States Supreme Court issued a unanimous endorsement last month of one of the fundamental principles our nation’s founders were willing to die for: Freedom of Speech.

That’s especially relevant this year given the all-too-often successful attempts to muzzle speech on college campuses by people who opposed the viewpoint of the speakers — speakers who more often than not were conservatives. Members of that same conservative movement, meanwhile, expressed outrage over a comedian holding up a severed head of Donald Trump and a New York City production of “Julius Caesar” in which Trump was depicted as the assassination plot victim.

As this debate rages, the Supreme Court’s decision is important for a couple of reasons. First, it reinforces that principle that freedom of speech is a fundamental right in our democracy and the government can’t ban speech just because it finds it to be offensive. Second, it should remind all of us that this right of free speech often brings a lot of discomfort with it. For better or worse, Americans have the right to say things that offend others.

In its ruling, the court struck down part of a law that banned offensive trademarks, ruling in favor of an Asian-American rock band called the “Slants.”

Slants founder Simon Tam had tried to trademark the name in 2011, but the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office denied the request on the grounds that it disparaged Asians. The decision would also appear to resolve the long-running legal battle over the name of the Washington Redskins football team. The federal government trademark office in 2014 ruled the name was offensive to Native Americans and canceled the team’s trademark. A lawsuit ensued, which was put on hold pending a decision in the Slants case.

Both Tam and Redskins owner Daniel Snyder contend their respective names actually honor Asians and Native Americans — even though many in those groups find the names offensive. But as the court ruled, that’s beside the point. As Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the court: “It offends a bedrock First Amendment principle: Speech may not be banned on the ground that it expresses ideas that offend.”

So on this Fourth of July, cherish the fact that we can speak freely, that we can disagree and espouse views others don’t like. Can we criticize offensive speech and those who utter it? Absolutely. That’s fundamental to the marketplace of ideas.

But, at the end of the day, the government isn’t the arbiter of what we can say, and it can’t be used by one side or the other to suppress speech.

That’s a fundamental American right, and that’s something worth celebrating on our Independence Day.