Hynes v. N.H. Democratic Party, 175 N.H. 781, 785 (2023) (quotation omitted). The United States Supreme Court has expressed "a profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open."
As we have recently explained, discussion of public issues is "integral to the operation of the system of government established by our Constitution." Hynes v. N.H. Democratic Party, 175 N.H. 781, 785, 302 A.3d 47 (2023) (quotation omitted). The United States Supreme Court has expressed "a profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open" Rosenblatt v. Baer, 383 U.S. 75, 85, 86 S.Ct. 669, 15 L.Ed.2d 597 (1966) (quotation omitted).
Resolving this dispute requires us to engage in statutory interpretation, and we review the trial court's statutory interpretation de novo. See Hynes v. N.H. Democratic Party, 175 N.H. 781, 787 (2023). We first look to the language of the statute itself, and, if possible, construe that language according to its plain and ordinary meaning.