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Charles Lawrence III has expressed his skepticism about the marketplace of ideas in the following passage:
At the core of the argument that we should resist all government regulation of speech is the ideal that the best cure for bad speech is good speech and that ideas that affirm equality and the worth of all individuals ultimately will prevail over racism, sexism, homophobia, and anti-Semitism because they are better ideas. Despite an optimism regarding the human capacity for good that can only be explained by faith, I am skeptical of ideals that provide the vehicle for oppressive ideology. I do not believe that truth will prevail in a rigged game or in a contest where the referees are on the payroll of the proponents of falsity.

Reference: Charles Lawrence III, "If he Hollers Let Him Go" in Words That Wound, p. 82-83.