In 1950, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Dennis v. United States, ruled that Eugene Dennis, General Secretary of the Communist Party USA, did not have a First Amendment right to free speech if his goal was to overthrow the Constitution. President Dwight Eisenhower agreed: “The Bill of Rights contains no grant of privilege for a group of people to destroy the Bill of Rights. A group–like the Communist conspiracy–dedicated to the ultimate destruction of all civil liberties, cannot be allowed to claim civil liberties as its privileged sanctuary from which to carry on subversion of the Government” (“Eisenhower on Communism,” Time magazine, Oct. 13, 1952).
(Friday Church News Notes, August 28, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)