How Tim Walz Defines Free Speech

Democrats are campaigning on “freedom,” but it pays to watch how they define it. In Gov. Tim Walz’s Minnesota, it doesn’t include free speech for employers.

A federal court next week will hear a challenge to a 2023 Minnesota law that bars employers from discussing “religious or political matters” at mandatory meetings. The latter includes elections, government regulations, laws and whether to join or support a union. This seems to mean that employers can’t criticize Mr. Walz, advocate for pro-business policies or discourage unionization.

Democrats say employees shouldn’t be obliged to attend “captive audience” meetings in which employers express their views about unions or government policies. But workers aren’t captive. They’re paid to listen. They can disregard their bosses’ opinions or quit.

Employers argue in their lawsuit that the law burdens their First Amendment rights and is pre-empted by federal law. They will now have to watch their every word at company meetings. Mr. Walz crowed at a North America’s Building Trades Unions legislative conference this spring that employers who violate the law “go to jail now.”