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Free Speech Tag

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 27, 2015 9 Comments
I just received word from Caleb Rowland, the attorney for Lane Pittman, that the charges against Pittman for playing the Star Spangled Banner on the 4th of July in Neptune Beach, Florida:
Despite the delay, Mr. Pittman is pleased the State’s Attorney’s office declined to prosecute him for expressing his patriotism and exercising his First Amendment right by playing the National Anthem on Independence Day.
Full background here: Florida man arrested for playing Star Spangled Banner on 4th of July rejects plea deal In case you don't recall, here is the performance that landed Pitman in legal trouble: Pittman posted the following message and Victory Selfie on Facebook:

Posted by Amy Miller on August 21, 2015 4 Comments
Today a California court dissolved a temporary restraining order banning the Center for Medical Progress from releasing footage showing high-ranking StemExpress executives discussing the sale of fetal body parts. The Alliance Defending Freedom issued a press release:
“The First Amendment protects every American’s free speech, regardless of how damaging the truth is for scandal-ridden organizations like StemExpress and Planned Parenthood,” said Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund President Chuck LiMandri. “Our client has the right to expose StemExpress’ role in the potentially illegal sale of aborted babies’ body parts. The court was correct in lifting this gag order, which only served to protect StemExpress’ gruesome business.” “The American people deserve to know the truth about the hideous industry that buys and sells the hearts, lungs, heads, and livers of unborn babies,” said Life Legal Defense Foundation Vice President of Legal Affairs Catherine Short. “The Center for Medical Progress should not be silenced and StemExpress and Planned Parenthood should not be able to get off the hook when there is credible evidence that they have colluded in numerous illegal activities.”
From the opinion (full opinion embedded below the fold):

Posted by William A. Jacobson on July 30, 2015 99 Comments
On July 4, 2015, 22 year-old Lane Pittman decided to take his electric guitar and play the Star Spangled Banner on the street outside his friend's house in Neptune Beach, near Jacksonville. Pittman says that after a police officer asked him to stop, he asked if it was okay to play on the sidewalk, and was told that was okay. And play he did:
"I don't think I ever played that song as good in my life as I did on that day. It felt right. It was an emotional roller coaster."
The crowd topped 200 people, spilling onto the street around him: Then Pittman was, to his surprise, arrested for breaching the peace:

Posted by Amy Miller on July 01, 2015 48 Comments
Today, popular department chain Macy's announced that it is pulling Donald Trump's line of menswear from its stores. Progressive activists renewed pressure on the company to adopt a more "inclusive" image following comments Trump made about immigrants. Trump instigated a mass freakout last Sunday during an appearance on State of the Union with Jake Tapper. After repeating his desire to finally finish a southern border fence, Trump stumbled over a politically correct tripwire:
"I like Mexico. I love the Mexican people. I do business with the Mexican people, but you have people coming through the border that are from all over. And they're bad. They're really bad," he told CNN's Jake Tapper. "You have people coming in, and I'm not just saying Mexicans, I'm talking about people that are from all over that are killers and rapists and they're coming into this country," he maintained.
Reaction was swift. Univision dropped the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants (Trump is suing for breach of contract.) NBC Universal also cut ties. A petition posted to MoveOn.org demanding the mogul's head fielded hundreds of thousands of signatures, prompting Macy's to end its silence on the issue and cave. More from Time:

Posted by Amy Miller on June 30, 2015 11 Comments
Controversial cartoonist Bosch Fawstin has received more than a dozen death threats since he took the top prize at the now-famous "draw Muhammad" free speech rally in Garland, Texas last month. The event descended into chaos after two armed terrorists attempted to storm the venue. Fawstin appeared on last night's (technically this morning's) episode of Fox News' Red Eye, and had great things to say about the threats against his life, the work he does, and the importance of boldly insisting on free speech. Watch: As Americans, when we're told not to do something, we tend to do it. I love this. It applies across the board, to every issue currently dominating the 24 hour news cycle.

Posted by Amy Miller on June 01, 2015 6 Comments
Remember Anthony Elonis? He was sentenced to four years in federal prison after he posted original rap lyrics and other content concerning his wife, co-workers, a kindergarten class, and even a federal agent. A lower court held that Elonis' posts constituted a "true threat" against those mentioned in his rants, and he served more than three years of his sentence before being released. At controversy in the ensuing lawsuit was the prosecutor's use of a low-hanging, "reasonable person" standard in his instructions to the jury. The Court had never specifically ruled on whether or not a prosecutor must show intent to carry out verbal or written threats in order to get a conviction; lower courts are split, with most requiring enough evidence to show that a reasonable person would see or hear the speech and believe that it is “a serious expression of an intention to inflict bodily injury or take the life of an individual.” In today's ruling, the Supreme Court held that requiring only negligence with respect to the communication of a threat, is not sufficient to support a conviction under the statute that governed Elonis' alleged crimes.

Posted by Amy Miller on May 30, 2015 5 Comments
They came. They saw. They protested without hurting themselves or others. I promised a round of applause for Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton if he and his city management and law enforcement teams managed to keep the peace between protesters and counterprotesters at last night's free speech/anti-Islam/whatever you want to call it rally. The verdict? They managed! Mr. Stanton, this one's for you. USA Today explains how things played out:
Police presence increased by 6:30 p.m. to physically separate the two sides outside the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix. About 20 cars and 15 motorcycles traveled from a protester meeting point at a nearby park to the mosque around 6 p.m., where people from the two sides used megaphones to yell at each other and were at times nose-to-nose. A large group of counter protesters held signs reading "Love not Hate," as others waved American flags and one man ripped the Quran in half. Counter protesters wearing blue lined the side closest to the mosque. They said they came from Redemption Church in Tempe and wore the color to be a peaceful presence. Few people showed up for the mosque's scheduled prayer service.
Supporters on both sides of the issue took to Twitter to speak their minds---and air their grievances:

Posted by Amy Miller on May 29, 2015 18 Comments
Tonight, activists plan to protest outside of the Phoenix mosque frequented by the Islamic extremists responsible for shootings at a free speech rally in Garland, Texas. Obviously, a controversy. Local law enforcement officials aren't taking any chances with this one; organizers for this protest have been less...filtered?...than those responsible for Garland's "draw the Prophet" event, and city officials are preparing for the possibility of violence.
The protest is timed to coincide with jummah, a large communal Muslim prayer service held on Fridays. Protest organizer Jon Ritzheimer told CNN his goal is to expose Islam. "True Islam is terrorism," he told the network's Anderson Cooper. "The ones that are out committing these atrocities and stuff, they're following the [Quran] as it's written." ABC News reported Friday the Federal Bureau of Investigation warned local law enforcement there is a possibility of violence, though no specific nor credible threat. The Arizona chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said it has met with law enforcement in an effort to protect mosque-goers.

Posted by Mike LaChance on May 10, 2015 22 Comments
The newest edition of Afterburner with Bill Whittle is titled I Support Free Speech, But... In the video, Whittle examines the controversy surrounding Pamela Geller and the limits so many of her critics are willing to impose on free speech. Whittle offers numerous examples of provocative free speech from progressives which didn't result in murder attempts and turns the left's arguments against Geller upside-down in the process. Watch the whole thing: Bill Whittle isn't the only person who has noticed the big 'but' some people want to place on free speech.

Posted by New Neo on May 09, 2015 37 Comments
The Pamela Geller incident, and the reaction to it amongst pundits and the press, has demonstrated some disturbing yet important truths. Mainly, it has highlighted how many people are willing to offer what Salman Rushdie called (in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo murders) the "Yes, but..." defense of free speech, which he rejects as no defense at all. Free speech means freedom for speech with which you disagree, by people you don't much care for. The incident also brought out the virulence of the verbal attacks against Geller by her critics in this country. Both those who defend Geller's right to free speech and those who shy away from it don't necessarily break down neatly into the left vs. right camps. There are certain liberals like Jonathan Zimmerman, for example, who absolutely loathe Geller, and yet pause in the midst of their vilification* to heartily and strongly defend her right to speak. His article is even titled "Je Suis Pamela Geller;" at the same time, though, he's also calling her an "appalling bigot" and "hateful" in it. And yet some on the right (or who are often regarded as being on the right) and who might actually agree with some of her premises have said she should have kept quiet and not offended Muslims' sensibilities.

Posted by Mike LaChance on May 08, 2015 32 Comments
By now, you've no doubt heard that Pamela Gellar hosted a free speech event in Texas which focused on cartoon images of Mohammed and that an Islamist terror plot to kill attendees was foiled. Many in media - and not just liberals -have gone out of their way to blame the victim, Geller and those attending the event, and have even gone so far as questioning the limits of free speech in America. A writer at the Washington Post wondered why Geller didn't apologize. CNN's Chris Cuomo argued that 'hate speech' isn't protected by the First Amendment which was so dumb he was even called out by the far left site Salon. Geller appeared on the Sean Hannity show Wednesday night and confronted the British Muslim cleric Anjem Choudary, who openly called for her death on national television. If you watch the Hannity show, you're probably familiar with Choudary. Allahpundit of Hot Air jokes that Choudary has probably appeared on the show more times than Alan Colmes. The exchange is over 10 minutes long but you should watch the whole thing: Despite threats Geller has received, she said federal security agencies haven't contacted her.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on May 06, 2015 27 Comments
Days later and establishment media types are still struggling to define the Garland shooting at Sunday's "draw Muhammad" event. CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, son of late New Governor Mario Cuomo, waded into the free speech pool today. Needless to say the ill-fated soirée was short-lived. Whilst debating the merits of the first amendment, Cuomo fired off this misinformed statement: Well, I've read the Constitution and I'm pretty sure no where in the first amendment or elsewhere is "hate speech" excluded from protection. "Hate speech" of course being the term progressives toss around any time words or phrases offend their delicate sensibilities or confront their requisite acquiescence to what Tom Wolff describes as, radical chic.

Posted by Laurel Conrad on April 27, 2015 33 Comments
When I wrote my previous LI piece about Christina Hoff Sommers lecture at Georgetown, I hoped that the “trigger warnings” and “safe spaces” were the end to the attempted censorship of Dr. Sommers’ speech. The Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute, for which I am the lecture director, sponsored the speech, and recorded it so that others could both hear Dr. Sommers and the people who questioned her. Unfortunately, I was wrong about the controversy being over. [caption id="attachment_125067" align="alignnone" width="556"][Photo Credit: Georgetown U. Republicans] [Image Credit: Georgetown U. Republicans][/caption]Now, Georgetown University itself is putting pressure on the Georgetown College Republicans to make CBLPI edit its video of the lecture. In an email, the assistant director for Georgetown’s Center for Student Engagement told the lecture student organizers that if CBLPI is “unwilling or unresponsive to the request, Georgetown will need to step in.”

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 20, 2015 31 Comments
We have been covering the "John Doe" investigations of Scott Walker and Wisconsin conservatives since January 2014, when it came on our radar after a state court judge quashed certain subpoenas. Since then, we've had over 25 posts, detailing the depths to which Democratic prosecutors sank in the effort to get Walker and his supporters, as well as related litigation. John Doe No. 1 targeted Walker's time as Milwaukee County Executive. That probe failed to find any misconduct by Walker. John Doe No. 2 targeted alleged illegal coordination during the Recall Election between Walker's campaign and conservative groups. A state court judge already has ruled that even if there was such coordination, it was not illegal; that ruling is on appeal in the state courts. A federal District Court ruled the same way, but was reversed by the federal appeals court primarily on procedural grounds as to whether a federal court should interfere in a state investigation; a request is pending for the U.S. Supreme Court to take that case. In a second federal case, the same District Judge ordered Wisconsin not to enforce its coordination law as relates to issue advocacy. We’ll see if that holds up on appeal. While the legal proceedings are interesting, it is the physical and emotional abuse visited up innocent conservative activists by John Doe investigators that is particularly outrageous. We've focused on the home raids before, including this description by George Will, The nastiest political tactic this year:

Posted by Amy Miller on April 06, 2015 33 Comments
Heads up, people. Late Last month, Project Veritas released undercover footage from an investigation into the student org registration process at Barry University. A Barry student and PV plant named Laura secretly recorded several Barry staff members as they gave her advice on how to create a student group sympathetic to the Islamic State. The reaction to the video was predictable, and Barry fielded considerable bad press because of it. About a week after the video was released, Laura was suspended. Project Veritas set out a press release explaining what happened, and why they believe Laura is being punished for her work with PV:
The vague language used by Barry University in issuing the suspension, coupled with the timing, suggest that Barry does not have an actionable claim against Laura. Rather, it appears that they object to the negative publicity the school has received due to the statements of their administrative and academic staff.

Posted by New Neo on February 16, 2015 11 Comments
So now we know the identity of Copenhagen shooter Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein, whose crime has mirrored the recent terrorist attacks in Paris but with a smaller death total and a single perpetrator. More details will no doubt emerge, but already it seems fairly clear what's going on here: a continuation of the assault on the West's freedom of speech, perpetrated by a fundamentalist Muslim terrorist (or one in sympathy with fundamentalist Muslim terrorists). The idea is to silence what they see as blasphemy against Islam, as well as to exert a chilling effect on anyone who would sympathize with or support such freedom of speech. In addition, it is an attack on Jews and those who would protect them. The goal? Non-Muslims should not be free to criticize Islam in ways that the group deems blasphemous; Jews would not be free to practice Judaism; and the penalty for both crimes would be death. The moment when the West should have become aware of the growing seriousness of the threat to Western free speech was the 1989 fatwa against author Salman Rushdie. Perhaps some people were able to minimize it at the time by reminding themselves that Rushdie had been born a Muslim in India, which made him an apostate when he renounced the religion. But he was definitely a Westerner, having lived in Britain since the age of fourteen, and his books were written in English and aimed at a Western audience. To refresh your memory:
Many Muslims accused Rushdie of blasphemy or unbelief [for his novel The Satanic Verses] and in 1989 Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran issued a fatwa ordering Muslims to kill Rushdie. Numerous killings, attempted killings, and bombings resulted from Muslim anger over the novel. The Iranian government backed the fatwa against Rushdie until 1998, when the succeeding government of Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said it no longer supported the killing of Rushdie. However, the fatwa remains in place.
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