To The Editor, Knoxville News-Sentinel:

I was interested in replying to a letter on April 27, "Freedom of speech is for everyone."

The writer's other points aside, which I more or less agree with, I wanted to address the statement about guarantees the Constitution supposedly gives us.

It is common for many people, including civil rights activists, journalists and Supreme Court justices, to speak of our First Amendment guarantees of religion, speech, press, assembly and petition. The one time "guarantee" occurs in the Constitution is the guarantee clause (Article IV, Section 4) in which the United States guarantees to every state a republican form of government.

The Constitution simply secures the rights that each individual always had. The Bill of Rights is a limitation on government power. If those rights were privileges, it would result in pastors being required to get a license to preach, journalists getting their stories approved (or maybe not) by a public information minister, or even a group of citizens being required to get approval from a government official to circulate a petition for grievances about legislation or ordinances.

Chris Fortner

Vice Chair, Libertarian Party of Knox County

Knoxville