Here are the Supreme Court precedents that targeting ‘hate speech’ would violate

Attorney General Pam Bondi delivers remarks as US President Donald Trump looks on during a press conference at the White House on August 11, 2025. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images/File

Attorney General Pam Bondi’s opaque threat to target “hate speech” following the assassination of conservative crusader Charlie Kirk would, if carried out, run up against a litany of Supreme Court precedent on an issue that has largely united conservative and liberal justices for decades.

Bondi has drawn bipartisan and biting criticism this week for suggesting that there is a distinction between free speech and hate speech, an idea that the Supreme Court has repeatedly rejected. And her subsequent attempts to walk back that statement have also bumped up against landmark rulings – some longstanding and othe