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The First Amendment is perhaps the most cherished set of constitutional rights we have as Americans. It covers freedom of speech, press, assembly, association, religion and the ability to petition the government for the redress of grievances. That covers a lot of ground.

This amendment, like all constitutional rights, comes with limitations. Paraphrasing the great Oliver Wendell Holmes, you cant falsely yell fire! in a crowded theater (this may not technically be true, but you get the point). Furthermore, you cant intentionally use speech to incite violence against a person or place. Finally, although the American press has wide latitude to make mistakes in its reporting, it cannot intentionally defame someones reputation without consequences.

So, what does violating the First Amendment cost these days? About $787,500,000 if youre Fox News Corporation.

Thats the amount Fox paid to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems, which Fox accused of being complicit in the stealing of the 2020 presidential election. It is by far the largest defamation award in the countrys history.

The settlement raised the hackles of people on both the right and left. Right-wingers who managed to pry themselves away from Fox News long enough to read about the settlement are outraged that Rupert Murdoch caved. Those on the left are outraged Dominion didnt take this to trial and hold Foxs feet to the fire on the witness stand.

As a retired lawyer who negotiated dozens of settlements in my day, I can tell you this case had very little to do with the First Amendment and everything to do with business. In the end, Fox cut its losses and Dominion got the biggest windfall it will ever see.

If youre a right-winger who is ticked off that Fox settled, your anger is misplaced. If anything, Fox didnt settle soon enough. Speaking from experience, settling a lawsuit sooner rather than later is generally going to be cheaper. Seeing a case through to trial is time-consuming and expensive. Plus, trying to figure out what a judge or jury will decide is an inexact science at best. In this case, you could argue that Foxs lawyers should have seen the handwriting on the wall and tried to get out of this early before all of the embarrassing discovery became public. Defamation cases are difficult to prove in America especially when the plaintiff is declared a public figure however, this case was about as slam-dunk as you can get for Dominion. Allowing this process to drag on up to the trial date arguably cost Fox hundreds of millions of dollars.

On the other hand, if youre one of those people who are mad Dominion didnt take this to trial and hold Fox accountable for its alleged malfeasance, I have some news for you. Dominion Voting Systems is not in the business of the First Amendment. Its in the voting machine business, which means its in the business of making money. This settlement is worth several times what the private equity firm paid for the entire company. In other words, being the target of a conspiracy theory is the best business decision Dominion ever made.

The whole reason Dominion brought the lawsuit in the first place is three-fold: defend its reputation, deter future actors from defaming its reputation, and money. Holding the press accountable for bad actions has nothing to do with it unless doing so adds a few more zeroes onto the settlement. Plus, theres no guarantee what a jury will award in damages, or what an appellate court will allow. Dominion was seeking $1.6 billion in damages. Even if it got that much, an appeals court could knock that down considerably. Maybe down to $0. Furthermore, the appeals process can take years. With inflation the way it is these days, that award gets less and less valuable by the month. A bird in the hand as they say.

But dont worry. Fox is being sued for defamation by a voting software company called Smartmatic, which Fox also (allegedly) looped into the 2020 presidential election conspiracy theory. Smartmatic is seeking $2.7 billion in damages. Maybe Fox will change course and go to trial on that case, or perhaps Smartmatic will become a trailblazer for First Amendment accountability.

I wouldnt hold my breath.

The First Amendment may be the most valuable constitutional right we have, but its valuable in more ways than one. In the case of Fox News, that value can be measured in dollars, not principles.

Let freedom ring!

Jeremy Gugino was a full-time volunteer as communications director for the Idaho House/Senate Democrats and Reclaim Idaho.

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Opinion: Crazy like a Fox: Buying the First Amendment for $800 million - Idaho State Journal