Editorial: Keep free speech strong – Bend Bulletin

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Oregonians right to free speech is particularly strong. And, as the states Court of Appeals reminded us last week in its Oregon Wild v. Port of Portland decision, it does not distinguish among types of speech. Commercial, political, religious and private speech are equally protected by the language in Article 1, Sect. 8 of the state constitution.

The case goes back to 2013, when Oregon Wild sought to buy an advertisement at the Portland Airport decrying clear-cutting on federal forests. The ad was rejected, and Oregon Wild sued. It won in circuit court, and the Port of Portland, which runs the airport, appealed. Wednesday the court rejected all three of the ports arguments supporting its ban.

The ports regulation, the appeals court said, had the effect of law. It also rejected, as it had before, the idea that a ban on some kinds of speech was not based on what was said but on its need to run the airport well. Finally, the court said, the state constitution prohibits banning speech based on content. Religious and political speech, in other words, are just as well protected in Oregon as commercial speech is.

Oregons free speech protection is stronger than the federal governments. No law shall be passed restraining the free expression of opinion or restricting the right to speak, write or print freely on any subject whatsoever; but every person shall be responsible for the abuse of this right, it says, and the courts have agreed. Consider what state Supreme Court Justice Robert C. Jones wrote in 1982 in a case involving a dirty bookstore in Redmond: In this state any person can write, print, read, say, show or sell anything to a consenting adult even though that expression may be generally or universally obscene.

In Oregon, speech is speech, no matter what is said, and no matter where. Government entities should not try to find ways to curtail speech.

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Editorial: Keep free speech strong - Bend Bulletin