For nearly 250 years, free speech has been one of the cornerstones of American democracy.

It’s enshrined in the First Amendment to our Constitution and has been the people’s most powerful tool for effecting change on everything from suffrage to civil rights to opposition to wars.

When government does attempt to take away rights, it doesn’t often do it in one large sweeping gesture or threat. It’s often a slow erosion — police interference in a peaceful protest, intimidation of speakers at public meetings, tighter government restrictions on where and when people can express their views. And before you know it, the people begin to fear speaking out, and their right of free speech is lost.

One such example of this drip-by-drip erosion of the right of free speech is happening in the city of........

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