Right to Free Expression: Article I, section 2 of the
California State Constitution guarantees that "every person may freely speak, write and publish his or her sentiments on all subjects" and that California laws "may not restrain or abridge liberty of speech." California courts have held that safeguarding free speech from government intrusion is a paramount concern because speech is "a freedom which is the matrix, the indispensable condition, of nearly every other form of freedom."