Claude Walker is not exactly a household name, but it should be, and we are happy to help make it happen. Walker, the attorney general of the Virgin Islands, seems to think his territorial office places him above the United States Constitution, which guarantees to Americans the right of free political speech and publication, as well as freedom of association.

In explaining the First Amendment, teachers typically tell schoolchildren that in this country, people cannot be persecuted by power-hungry government officials for expressing unpopular points of view. With his new subpoena fired at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Walker is doing more than wasting taxpayers’ time and money on a frivolous investigation. He is in fact putting the First Amendment to the test, as are the other attorneys general involved in his scheme, notably New York’s Eric Schneiderman.