[I'm working on a draft article called When Are Lies Constitutionally Protected?, and I thought I'd serialize it here, since I still have plenty of time to improve it; I'd love to hear your thoughts on it! (You can also read the whole article here; all the posts about it will go into this thread.) I began with a brief discussion of constitutionally unprotected lies, and turn here to constitutionally protected ones.]
But some lies, the Court told us, are indeed constitutionally protected—again, not just when they are said without "actual malice," but even if the speaker knows the statements are false. This includes "false statements about philosophy, religion, history, the social sciences, the arts, and the like," at least "in many contexts." (I assume physical sciences would be covered as well.[2]) More broadly, this may include lies about any matters that are not "easily verifiable," or where "it is perilous to permit the state to be the arbiter of truth."
