Reply #3: The man in my avatar believed he had the right to remain silent. . . [View All]

[Journeyman]

Dalton Trumbo went to prison 60+ years ago because he believed freedom of speech included the right to be silent.

The government believed otherwise.

Thwarted from utilizing his defense of choice, that his actions constituted freedom of speech and were thus outside the government's purview, he invoked his 5th amendment protections and was sent to prison for contempt of congress.


"If freedom of speech is to have any practical application, then it must include the right to be silent, and the right to not share with my neighbors and friends those opinions which I prefer to keep to myself, or which I have not sufficiently developed so as to feel comfortable sharing."