Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-2025

Abstract

Widespread agreement has existed for centuries that a free press is essential to democracy. But legal scholars have spent almost no effort thinking about why else we might need a free press. This article attempts to widen the aperture. It argues that as the free press is essential to democracy, it is just as essential to a separate value: the rule of law.

Recognizing and investigating the connections between the free press and the rule of law is essential right now. It can help us discern how the press can create friction against the erosion of both rule of law and democracy. And it can likewise serve as a revitalizing force for the free press. Even more fundamentally, it can prompt us to do the necessary work of considering what we want the free press, the rule of law, and democracy to be.

This Article describes how press functions that the Supreme Court has said are vital to democracy are likewise vital to the rule of law. They include watchdog, educator, and facilitator of the public square. Investigating the way in which the press plays these roles in support of the rule of law yields new understandings of how the press and rule of law may work best. Beyond describing how these traditional free press functions support the rule of law, the Article describes two press roles never fully recognized by the Court—that of curator and empathy-builder. Both roles also play a key part in supporting rule of law.

Publication Citation

Cardozo Law Review, Vol. 47, Issue 1, Pp. 1-54, 2025.

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