The First Amendment clearly protects speech that falls short of incitement to violence; my speech is not responsible for your actions, nor your speech for mine. But just because people can’t be held liable for something doesn’t mean they’re not culpable. America is waking up to that fact, and not a moment too soon.

Derived from the Latin culpa (crime, fault, blame, or guilt), culpability conveys the idea of being blameworthy or deserving of censure. While it can be employed in a legal context, it is far more often used to imply moral responsibility. We seem to have forgotten the value of its role in society.

As far as we know, there was only one person directly responsible for the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk on a Utah university campus. And there was only one person directly responsible for the vicious murder of Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte, North Carolina, light-rail train. Both individuals are in the hands of the justice system now and, hopefully, both will meet their just desserts.

While only the murderers are liable for these two awful crimes, it’s unequivocal that many people online are culpable for them, their steady stream of irresponsible and over-the-top accusations creating a rhetorical environment that contributes to the instability of the unstable.

Some are culpable........

© The Daily Signal