Daily Archives: February 20, 2017

In many ways, free speech is the right that protects all others, reinforcing every freedom that we hold dear and that so many have fought and died for.

This Presidents' Day, we should reflect on the reasons our Founding Fathers enshrined this right in our First Amendment. And we must acknowledge that this fundamental right is under attackeven for those who have fought to protect it.

Brandon Coleman, a Marine Corps veteran, began working as a therapist at the VA hospital in Phoenix to provide care for his brothers and sisters in arms. When he found that veterans there were dying due to negligence, he spoke upand for that, he was punished. When he told management what was going on, they told him thats how people get fired. They even tried to use his own personal medical records against him, and issued a gag order to silence him.

Colemans VA experience reminds of President Abraham Lincoln, who famously said that we as a nation will never be destroyed from the outside. "If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher, he said if the United States loses its freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.

Veterans like Brandon fought to defend us against external threats, but more and more are realizing that the biggest threat to our freedom is a government that is quick to limit our inalienable rights. The oath servicemen and women take to support and defend our Constitution doesnt end when we hang up our uniforms and return to civilian life.

Brandons case is one of many instances in which the very same government thats supposed to be protecting the right to free speech has tried to suppress it. Its not just happening at the VAlook at the way the government has intimidated religious groups by leaking donor lists, or the scandal at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), in which the agency targeted certain groups because of their views on public policy.

Time and again, the government has silenced those it disagrees with by using citizens private information against them. Which makes it all the more concerning that a growing number of states are now trying to get more information about Americans who exercise their First Amendment rights.

In South Carolina, legislation was recently filed in the state Senate that would force essentially every nonprofit organization that educates citizens about public policy to disclose to the government the names, addresses, and employers of supporters who donate more than a certain dollar amount. Similar efforts have surfaced in both Nebraska and South Dakota. Touted under the banner of transparency, these so-called disclosure laws are nothing more than thinly-veiled attacks on free speech.

Throughout our history, the First Amendment has allowed citizens to challenge the government and powerful groups in all sectors, rooting out fraud and corruption. It has allowed marginalized groups to speak out against injustice, spurring progress toward equality. It has allowed millions of Americans to contribute to a marketplace of ideas, fostering a free society, a thriving culture and the largest economy in the world.

All too often today, our free speech right that was designed to hold the government accountable is being used by the government to harass, intimidate, and silence the very citizens the right is meant to protect.

With a new administration and a new Congress, there may now be a real opportunity to scale back and prevent further threats facing our First Amendment rights. But during these turbulent political times, we cant take that for granted.

Abolition, the womens movement, civil rights the inalienable right to free speech is what gave the foot soldiers in all of these movements the ability to speak up for themselves. Now that free speech is under attack, will we speak up for it?

Mark Lucas is the executive director of Concerned Veterans for America.

The views expressed by this author are their own and are not the views of The Hill.

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This Presidents' Day, defend the First Amendment - The Hill (blog)

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Rush Limbaugh said on his radio show today that the press reaction to President Trumps attacks on the media is giving him the impression that journalists believe they have immunity from criticism.

Limbaugh, who said on Fox News Sunday yesterday that the media wont be able to destroy Trump, picked up in particular on Chuck Todds reaction to Trumps media-bashing:

Limbaugh said that this gives the appearance of journalists thinking they can do whatever they want to public figures but also that since they are recognized in the First Amendment they have constitutional immunity.

The First Amendment, he argued, does not grant them immunity from criticism. It does not grant them freedom to be disagreed with. It does not grant them freedom from opposition.

And if this is all about holding powerful people accountable, Limbaugh added, how come there isnt this kind of brave declaration when it comes to powerful Democrats.

Listen above, via The Rush Limbaugh Show.

[image via screengrab]

Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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Limbaugh: The First Amendment Doesn't Give the Press 'Immunity from Criticism' - Mediaite

The rights of Milo Yiannopoulos were violated. Angry about his politics and uncomfortable with his trolling, violent protestors kept him from delivering scheduled remarks in a public venue. His right to free speech was categorically infringed.

But that was more than three weeks ago at UC Berkley and it bears zero resemblance to the current controversy surrounding Milo's CPAC speech. In reality, there's little threat to his First Amendment rights.

For those unfamiliar with the obnoxious populist provocateur, Milo has made a career of exposing liberal double standards. The operating procedure of the Breitbart writer is pretty simple. He mocks the pieties held by many on the Left, trashing in particular the special treatment afforded to individual groups.

And Milo puts on a good show. Normally his antics are more entertaining than his arguments are incisive. But he's always aggravating on purpose. That's gotten him kicked off of Twitter and college campuses, all the while catapulting his career.

But his comments about pedophilia are beyond reprehensible. In a recently surfaced January 2016 video, Milo speaks fondly and even defends "relationships between younger boys and older men." Later he makes light of the sexual abuse that rocked the Catholic Church, quipping that he's "grateful for Father Michael" and adds that he "wouldn't give nearly such good head if it wasn't for him."

Is all of this terribly offensive? Absolutely. Is it protected speech under the First Amendment? Yes. Does that mean that CPAC will violate Milo's rights if they cancel his speech? Not at all.

As a private organization, CPAC can give a venue to whomever they please. Whether they cut or keep Milo in the speaking line-up for this week's conference in Washington, D.C., is completely up to them. Whether he speaks or is silenced, his rights won't be violated.

There's only one way the Berkley episode can be replayed this Friday. If a violent mob rips him from the stage or the government bars him from speaking. Clearly, there's little chance of that happening.

Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.

Also from the Washington Examiner

Yiannopoulos' book deal was worth a reported $250,000 and was expected to be released in June.

02/20/17 5:45 PM

Top Story

H.R. McMaster replaces Mike Flynn as Trump's national security adviser.

By Caitlin Yilek, Kelly Cohen

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See the rest here:
No, Milo Yiannopoulos' 1st Amendment rights aren't at risk - Washington Examiner

Despite calls for expulsion or suspension, Oklahoma State University cant legally punish the students who posted offensive words and images on social media at the beginning of the semester, according to OSU officials.

African-American students and others who are outraged by (the incident) have every right to be outraged by this, but if youve turned the focus on punishing the speech, you dont solve the problems of the racism, said Joey Senat, who specializes in media and First Amendment law.

When you say that person should be expelled because I didnt like that persons speech, they dont understand the larger issues and what the First Amendment actually is intended to mean, he said.

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a photo including four OSU students, two of whom were wearing a dark substance resembling blackface, wasposted on Instagram and caused uproar on social media.

About a week later another OSU studentposted a photo on Snapchat of herself wearing a mud mask with the caption, When he says he only likes black girls. The photo sparkedprotests on campus and led to a meeting between OSU President Burns Hargis and African-American Student Association members.

In both instances, Hargis issued a statementsupporting student protest anddiscouraging intolerance and discrimination at OSU.

But for some, the statements and apologies arent enough.In a recent Letter to the Editor, an individual called for the students involved to be expelled or, at least, suspended.

However, there is no justification for censoring the students speech because it did not present a true threat, Senat said. Its counterproductive, he said, to suggest students be disciplined by suspension or expulsion.

You cant stop these people from thinking what they think, he said. You can only drive them underground, but that doesnt get to the root problem of the racism. It doesnt get to the societal issues of racism. It doesnt allow for solutions and progress.

Students shouldnt rely on the university, a taxpayer-funded entity, to solve their problems, Senat said. Instead, he suggests offering counter speech to racism.

Students should be out there protesting, Senat said. Confront those ideas. Thats how you go about trying to change someones mind and show them the error of their ways. They should be out there making it known this is not acceptable in their community, but thats a far cry from government being involved.

Senat said students and others who want these individuals disciplined need to keep in mind that next time it could be their speech someone wants punished or censored because it was offensive.

We cant expect government to step in and punish everyone because were offended or we justifiably disagree with someone elses speech, Senat said.

Lee Bird, vice president for student affairs, said the university is working to provide educational opportunities for students and has started a dialogue with the students responsible for the social media posts.

Theres a legal, right way to approach (the incidents), Bird said. The institution just cant say, Well, you cant do a blackface again, or, You cant do this.

Bird, who co-wrote a handbook for universities regarding the First Amendment, said restricting what students can say on campus through speech codes violates the First Amendment. A speech code is a regulation that prohibits expression normally protected under the First Amendment, according to FIRE, a nonprofit organization concerned with free speech on university campuses.

People think, Lets just write a code and prohibit it, Bird said. Well, thats not how the First Amendment works.

Bird said she, along with other university officials, has spent several hours meeting with the students involved, encouraging them to educate themselves and looking ahead at how the institution can proceed.

The students involved were ignorant, she said, which is the bigger issue.

What we learned from this case is we have a lot of students that are completely uninformed, ignorant about many race issues, Bird said. I think we need to help encourage students to educate themselves and where the institution may have to realign diversity classes or those requirements to help make sure that our students really do understand more about diversity.

Laura Arata, an OSU professor who specializes in the history of race, said the recent incidents are reflective of what she sees in the classroom.

Each semester, Arata said she asks her Survey of American History students whether racism is still a problem today.

Responses always range from No, it's definitely not, to Yes, absolutely it is," Arata said in an email to the OColly. To me, this is the clearest indication possible that there are some very important, very complicated, very deep conversations most of us need to have, even if it makes us uncomfortable.

Arata advocates having conversations that go beyond defining right and wrong. She said this is an opportunity to talk about why the actions are hurtful.

We are a diverse country and, of course, we're going to experience different things in all kinds of different ways, but that doesn't mean we don't need to acknowledge them and consider different viewpoints, she said.

Bird said she acknowledges knowing the university cant legally take action might not be comforting for victims. She believes OSU students need to understand the effects their actions can have and should be more thoughtful of those in their community, she said.

People need to understand that all these behaviors have an impact on our community, affect institutional reputation, make it harder to recruit, and I think the Cowboy nation is better than that, she said. I would hope that students would not be bystanders to hate, but they would be personally involved. If it was (an) international student, a Muslim student, an African-American student, an LGBT student, it doesnt matter hate is hate.

When you see something, say something, deal with it, speak to it.

news@ocolly.com

Read more:
Racially insensitive posts protected under First Amendment - Daily O'Collegian