A law that restrains people from telling others what they think about politicians and political matters is a bad law. It interferes both with the freedom of the people who would speak and the freedom of the people who would listen.

This case is about a law that infringes upon the most basic liberty that we have — the right to free speech. It does so in the context of a fundamental event in our democracy — the choice of who we elect to govern us. It focuses upon the time that is most critical to that liberty and that choice — the pre-election and election period when the attention of the population is most keenly focused on political matters and what each of us may do by way of direct action in relation to voting and seeking to persuade and influence others to vote.