Abstract

Censorship by Harassment

Much of the old censorship, in the form of state laws and local ordinances and administrative procedures, went down in the sixties. Part of this resulted from an enlarging judicial relief, a libertarian emphasis that some students of First Amendment interpretations believe may have run its course. Not only current political conservatism but the cyclic history of censorship supports this view. One still has considerable practical as well as legal freedom. It rears its head. Some might prefer to say its behind, in the many minority and dissident publications labeled "underground." These represent a remarkable change in cultural style and social temper, but only at the margins of American order. No very profound sense of American society and history is required to recognize that the pressures toward repression are many and powerful.