From around the internet

Free Speech, Textualism

This week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in U.S. v. Hansen, a criminal case involving a federal statute that makes it a crime to “encourage” the violation of U.S. immigration law. The defense is that the law is an unconstitutional violation of free speech. The defense’s concern, picked up by various members of the Court, is that simply talking to an illegal immigrant about staying in the country could be a violation of the law. The government argued that the Court should “read in” to the statute that a violation requires conduct such as aiding or abetting. Textualist judges reject the idea of “reading in” requirements into statutes that do not appear in the text. Most of the Justices are avowed textualists, so the the opinion, expected in June, should be interesting. You can read more about the case here.