Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by John Coleman
“One morning in the spring of 1966, David O’Brien burned his Selective Service registration card on the steps of a South Boston courthouse. … On the facts, the government’s case was airtight. It was a federal crime to knowingly destroy a draft card. When the case reached the Supreme Court, the justices agreed that some actions can contain both expressive and non-expressive elements. But just because an action might send a message, they reasoned, doesn’t mean it’s protected by the First Amendment. Otherwise, someone robbing a bank to protest capitalism could argue their unlawful conduct is actually constitutionally protected speech. … Nearly sixty years later, the O’Brien framework can help us think about the First Amendment’s intersection with artificial intelligence — a technology that is capable of talking and acting at the same time.” (09/23/26)
https://www.fire.org/news/what-can-burning-draft-card-teach-us-about-agentic-ai