Bill of Rights Day: How Your Rights Keep Authoritarianism in Check

I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual." In October 2025, polling by Associated Press-NORC revealed that majorities of Americans believe freedom of speech (78 percent), freedom of the press (76 percent), the right to vote (58 percent), and the right to keep and bear arms (64 percent) face at least minor threats in the United States. On Bill of Rights Day in 2009, Tim Lynch of the Cato Institute wrote, "The Framers of the Constitution would not have been surprised by the relentless attempts by government to expand its sphere of control."

Author: J.D. Tuccille

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