4. There are surely times when we should want private associations, including corporations, to speak and lobby. You can think Disney’s stance on the curricular law was wrong, foolish, satanic, whatever. But would you have wanted private associations and corporations to take public stances in favor of racial equality during the civil-rights era? Would you like private associations and corporations to oppose the Russian invasion of and atrocities against Ukraine? Because if you want things like that to happen, you have to accept that some entities will sometimes say things you don’t like. It is not possible to set up a legal structure that permits untrammeled, unintimidated speech by corporations and other associations only when that speech is socially valuable, because no state entity (or private entity, for that matter) will possess infallible judgment as to what is valuable. Your only option is to let individuals and associations speak as they see fit, trusting further speech and debate to prune away bad ideas by subjecting them to the greatest possible number of possible critics.

5. It will be interesting to see whether cheerleaders of Florida’s vengeance continue to speak of “conscience rights.” If so, I will not be able to take them seriously. What they actually believe in are conscience rights for those whose conscience agrees with theirs.