Category Archives: Free Speech

A Florida animal rights activist is arguing that discussions of graphic violence against a Wayne State University animal researcher are federally protected free speech and not stalking.

Outside her preliminary examination Thursday in Detroit's 36th District Court, Camille Marino, 47, said she never intended to act on the violence she wrote about in an Oct. 22, 2011, e-mail to Dr. Donal O'Leary. The physiologist is in charge of cardiovascular research at Wayne State's medical school and conducts research on dogs and rats.

"I'm not a violent person," said Marino, accompanied by two women wearing T-shirts with the words "Wayne State murders and tortures dogs" on the back.

Her defense attorney, Matt Savich, said Marino's actions are free speech protected by the U.S. Constitution.

Marino is charged with aggravated stalking and unlawful posting of messages online, both five-year felonies, and trespassing. She was arrested May 2 after she chained herself to the doors of Wayne State's undergraduate library, surrounded by posters about O'Leary.

The preliminary examination, in front of Judge E. Lynise Bryant-Weekes, was continued until July 13 to give prosecutors time to respond to the constitutional argument.

O'Leary said Marino's words frightened him and his family. Calling the e-mail a "demented missive," O'Leary read parts of it in court, starting with the title "Welcome to Your Nightmare," and a reference to Freddy Krueger, a movie character that stalks and kills.

The e-mail included threats to strap O'Leary down and cut off his limbs with rusty saws, rip his teeth out one-by-one with pliers and pound them into his skull, crack his testicles "like walnuts" and feed his limbless body to starving dogs.

"I felt they were clearly from a disturbed individual that was threatening me personally, threatening my children, threatening my home, threatening my colleagues and my students," O'Leary said.

O'Leary testified that he and his neighbors received postcards with a picture of him and the words "I torture animals." He said he saw his name, picture and threats on Marino's Facebook page more than 20 times -- as recently as three days ago.

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Florida animal rights activist says talk of violence against Wayne State University professor is free speech

PARSIPPANY Wasim Khan, a frequent Democratic candidate in Republican Morris County, hasnt won any elections, but Wednesday he scored a big victory in the state Supreme Court.

The court ruled 5-1 that the homeowners association at his Parsippany townhouse complex violated his free-speech rights when it ordered him to remove campaign signs from his window and door during his run for township council in 2005.

"Its a great victory for free speech," Khan said. "Im so proud of our Supreme Court and our state. Its incredible."

"Ideas cannot be fleshed out unless people have fearlessness that what they do will not have any repercussion," said Khan, 56, a physician who works in cancer research as a consultant to pharmaceutical companies.

The Mazdabrook Commons Homeowners Association ordered Khan to remove his signs, telling him the complexs rules allowed only "for sale" signs to be posted, according to court documents.

A judge in Superior Court found that the sign prohibition did not violate Khans free-speech rights, but Khan appealed. An appellate court ruled in his favor and yesterdays ruling upheld the appeals courts decision.

"Balancing the minimal interference with Mazdabrooks private property interest against Khans free-speech right to post political signs on his own property, we conclude that the sign policy in question violates the free-speech clause of the State Constitution," the court ruled.

The court noted the U.S. Supreme Court has called residential signs "a venerable means of communication that is both unique and important" and that has "played an important part in political campaigns."

Frank Askin, director of the Rutgers Law School Constitutional Litigation Clinic, who filed a brief supporting Khan on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union, called the decision "a fantastic free-speech victory for the million-plus residents" who live in condominium or townhouse complexes governed by associations.

"Almost all of these associations have regulations banning signs," Askin said, "Its a very important decision."

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N.J. Supreme Court: Homeowners group can't order resident to remove political signs

Forest Thomer walked up to a small group of people at a May 23 Party in the Park event, pointed to a slight, wheelchair-bound woman next to him and asked, Do you want to laugh at the crippled girl?

The politically incorrect question wasnt intended to demean Ally Bruener and her battle with congenital muscular dystrophy but rather to promote her next gig as a comedian. After Thomer asked the question, Bruener wheeled her chair up to the group, told them a joke and where she next was performing.

Thomers guerrilla marketing, though, erupted into such a to do that he was arrested by Cincinnati police and charged with disorderly conduct, punishable by up to 30 days in jail. Now, Thomer (pronounced Toe-mer) and Bruener insist they are in a free speech fight.

The police are trying to censor us. Theyre trying to tell us how we can or cant promote my comedy, Bruener said from her Alexandria home.

I dont know when it became a bad thing for just saying words, said Thomer, 25, of Cold Spring.

Bruener, 23, wants to break down the stigma the word cripple connotes and engage those who think because her body confines her to a wheelchair shes mentally deficient.

They assume I have no common sense, she said. Theres a lot of harsh stereotypes against people with disabilities.

After graduating from Campbell County High, Bruener received an academic scholarship to the University of Louisville. She dropped out seeking a career in comedy. Shes appeared in several clubs and comedy events in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, making her disability part of her act.

I want to open the door to the conversation, Bruener said. People dont expect the crippled girl to talk about it. When I bring it to light, it makes me more comfortable.

Her self-mocking website is replete with references to and jokes about muscular dystrophy, a degenerative disease that usually affects voluntary muscles, and her life in a wheelchair.

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'Crippled girl' gag: Crime or free speech issue?

Such a town, as much a resort as a port city, should have collapsed instantaneously before the IWW onslaught, writes historian Kevin Starr, yet San Diego escalated the conflict.

By the end of February 1912, police had arrested so many protestors in the free-speech fight, the city and county jails were overloaded. Sheriff Jennings ordered Dr. D.B. Northrup to inspect both lockups. You have 154 men confined where you have accommodations for only 76, Northrup reported. Conditions are unsanitary. There is much sickness and liability of a severe epidemic at any time.

Each prisoner demanded a separate trial. Never before, wrote the Sun, were so manyon trial at one time in San Diego. The small, poorly ventilated courtroom required extra benches and became almost as crammed as the jail. When the bailiff called a name at the initial hearings, the prisoner answered, There!

But few could hear the reply, or the proceedings. The jail was next door to the courtroom, and Wobblies, singing at the top of their lungs, drowned everything out. The big noise irritated police so much, one threatened a cold bath: turn a fire hose on the vocalists.

Solidarity wasnt 100 percent. After two weeks of shoulder-to-shoulder confinement, a toilet in near-constant use, and rancid food twice a day, Oscar Erickson and Chris Tone wanted out. In exchange for freedom, they promised to quit the IWW and find work as mechanics.

The Wobblies strategy of flooding the jails and courts worked so well, police demanded an open-air stockade at Grape Street to handle the overflow.

And more possibly thousands more were on the way. Vincent St. John, highest ranking officer of the IWW, sent San Diego mayor James E. Wadham a letter from Chicago: The fight will be continued until free speech is established in San Diego, if it takes 20,000 members and 20 years.

The major appealed to governor Hiram Johnson for state troops. But Johnson, whose progressive views cost him the San Diego vote, said that since the city had created the problem, it could damn well get itself out.

A possible sign of things to come: on February 26, the Free Speech League held a parade of protest. People from all walks of life marched five abreast through downtown. The parade was two miles long.

Shortly after, urged on by the city council and businessmen, district attorney H.S. Utley proposed a compromise: if the IWW stopped soap-boxing, the prisoners could go free. Ernest Kirk, legal counsel for protestors, favored the proposal. On February 28, he recommended it to the IWW. But they voted him down.

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Free-speech protesters got the fire hose.

The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear oral arguments in the so-called "candy cane" case.

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The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday it will not hear oral arguments in the so-called "candy cane" case, clearing two Texas school principals of claims they restricted the free speech of students who wanted to distribute religious-themed gifts.

We are disappointed The Supreme Court denied review of this case, said Hiram Sasser, director of litigation of the Liberty Institute, which has represented the parents and students in the case. We were hoping to finally put this issue to rest: that government school officials should be held accountable when they violate the law and students First Amendment rights. No student should be subjected to religious discrimination by the government.

Meanwhile, attorneys for the principals being sued said the ruling shows the case is not about First Amendment rights.

"There have been a number of people and organizations who have characterized this as a seminal First Amendment decision," said attorney Tom Brandt. "However, as the court has shown us in today's decision, the core legal question was not about freedom of expression, but about the necessary protections for two outstanding educators."

While the immunity issue is closed, other parts of the case are still to be decided at the appellate and district court levels. A majority of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals held that the principals went too far and may have violated the children's free-speech rights.

The case, which has come to symbolize what many call "the war on Christmas," originated in 2003 when third-grade student, Jonathan Morgan, brought candy cane-shaped pens to school to hand them out to his fellow classmates during a winter party at Thomas Elementary School in Plano, Texas, according to the Christian Post. The pens had religious messages attached to them, explaining the Christian origin of candy canes.

An entire class was also prohibited from writing "Merry Christmas" on cards to American troops serving overseas.

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Supreme Court denies appeal in 'Candy Cane' case

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) A man holds a sign on the I-15 off ramp at 11400 South in Draper, Monday, June 11, 2012.

Steve Ray Evans relies on a hand-lettered sign and the kindness of strangers to make it day-to-day, but a federal lawsuit filed Monday says Draper is trying to bar his constitutional right to stand on a public sidewalk and ask for help.

The city is enforcing the same statute a federal judge struck down in March, said Brian Barnard, a Salt Lake City civil rights attorney representing Evans.

The law

In March, a federal judge found language in Utahs law against use of a roadway by pedestrians too broad. That law says: A person may not sit, stand or loiter on or near a roadway for the purpose of soliciting from the occupant of a vehicle: a ride, contributions, employment, the parking, watching, or guarding of a vehicle; or other business.

"Its like Draper city hasnt gotten the news," Barnard said.

Evans is unemployed, homeless and does not receive Social Security or disability benefits. Instead, he holds a sign while standing on public sidewalks and in other public areas requesting work and financial donations from passersby, an activity that provides his only source of income, Barnard said.

But Evans has been cited and prosecuted by Draper police under a statute they claim bars people standing near roadways from soliciting money.

"As of a week ago, Draper City police officers flat out told our client it is illegal to panhandle in the state of Utah, which is a misstatement of the law, and told him if he continued to do so that they would cite him or arrest him," Barnard said.

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Panhandler says city of Draper quashing his free speech

As president of the SMU chapter of the Young Conservatives of Texas, Brad Julsonnet is on a mission to protect First Amendment rights for students. He and the other members of YCT want SMU students to feel free to express themselves.

To encourage freedom of speech, YCT members will be on the west bridge of the Hughes-Trigg Student Center today between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., handing out fliers to accompany 25 stake signs scattered across campus.

YCT stresses the importance of being able to use symbolic speech to express opinions.

The signs show two images, one of a burning American flag and the other of a burning cross. According to Isaac Shutt, YCT's ambassador to the university, although this type of speech is unpopular and widely offensive, it is Constitutionally protected and incredibly important.

Andy Hemming, a first-year business and philosophy double major and diversity chair for YCT, supports First Amendment freedoms completely. "Although I may not agree with everything people have to say, you can't limit their freedom of speech my freedom of speech might someday be taken," he said.

According to Julsonnet, the fliers and signs are designed to draw students to YCT's booth at the student center.

Anyone offended by the signs is encouraged to stop by the booth for in-depth information and examples regarding free speech and its limitations at other universities.

Brainwashing 101, a DVD about liberal bias in higher education, will play on a laptop during the display.

"We want to address the limitation of free speech on campus and to encourage students to have their voices heard," Julsonnet said, "and in this case we are leaning more toward the conservative voice."

Coincidentally, today marks the one-year anniversary of YCT's affirmative action bake sale.

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YCT stresses importance of free speech

Freedom of speech is simply taken too far, when two men can stand in front of the post office in downtown Ojai, brandishing American flags surrounding two images of President Obama with a Hitler mustache.

An image of Adolf Hitler represents the essence of evil and violence. Their actions are theatric, idiotic and certainly affect the minds of all around them with fear and hate mongering.This behavior not only creates tremendous anger in me, but gives prudence in young minds to disrespectful and callous behavior in a world where already too few show love, compassion and deeper sensitivity to our fellows.

I don't care if you hate Obama and loved George W. Bush, the job of the president is difficult. The president has to keep peace and protect us from evils never imagined in the past.Can anyone with a mind in this day be blind enough to create yet more division in this country by associating president Obama with one of the biggest mass murderers in history?

I say there must be moderation in freedom of speech. Would the men holding the signs want their children to experience or see such hate mongering? Do you want your children to be subject to those images in public?

What world will a child create, once exposed to the disrespect his elders demonstrate before him/her? Common sense apparently has little meaning to some. Perhaps the freedom of speech amendment needs an amendment.

- Jonn Howell,

Ojai,

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Free speech, poor taste

The Jefferson Area Tea Party has accused Charlottesville officials of engaging in free speech discrimination by giving unequal treatment to political groups that hold rallies in public parks.

In a Friday news release, the JATP said its outrageous that a conservative group had to pay hundreds of dollars to hold a one-hour rally Friday in Jackson Park, while Occupy Charlottesville activists received waivers while camping for a month and a half in Lee Park.

Those waivers were granted as a result of theprofessed political kinship by the all-Democrat City Council with theOccupy Charlottesville activists, the JATP release stated.

The Tea Party warned that fee requirements can stifle free speech for political groups who cant afford to pay.

We believe such costs should not be required for First Amendment activities, the release said. But if they are, then they should be equally applied without regard to the politics or the message of the applicant organization.

The Tea Party claims that a group known as Stand Up for Religious Freedom, formed in opposition to federal contraception mandates, had to front more than $600 in fees, deposits and insurance coverage in order to hold its rally.

City Parks and Recreation Director Brian Daly said the city charged SURF a $25 application fee and a $250 security deposit.

The deposit will be returned to the group on Monday, Daly said, adding that the group will simply incur a net fee of $25.

Harold Koenig, who helped organize the SURF rally, said the group also had to pay $332.32 to a private insurance company to indemnify the city up to $1 million, which he said was required by Charlottesville.

Koenig said the fees seem entirely reasonable, but they should be equally applied.

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Area tea party accuses city of 'free speech discrimination'

Free speech is under fire. Online thugs are targeting bloggers (mostly conservative, but not all) who have dared to expose a convicted bomber and perjuring vexatious litigant who is now enjoying a comfy life as a liberally subsidized social justice operative. Where do your elected representatives stand on this threat to our founding principles?

On Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-GA, bravely stepped forward to press this vital issue. In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, Chambliss decried the harassing and frightening actions of Internet menaces who recently have gone after several conservative new media citizen journalists and activists.

GOP Rep. Kenny Marchant of Texas added his voice, telling Holder in a statement that he is very afraid of the potential chilling effects that these reported actions may have in silencing individuals who would otherwise be inclined to exercise their Constitutional right to free speech. And the American Center for Law and Justice, a leading conservative free speech public interest law firm, announced it was providing legal representation to the National Bloggers Club a new media association that has provided support and raised funds for targets of this coordinated harassment. (Full disclosure: I volunteer on the National Bloggers Club board of directors.)

The ACLJ described the importance of the case very simply: Free speech is under attack.

Chambliss and Marchant called specific attention to one terrifying tactic against these bloggers: SWAT-ting. These hoaxes occur when a perpetrator contacts local police to report a violent incident at a targets home. Callers disguise their true identities and locations in order to provoke a potentially deadly SWAT/police response descending upon the targets homes.

As online conservatives and now ABC News have reported, recent SWAT-ting victims include New Jersey-based Mike Stack, a blogger and Twitter user targeted last summer after helping to expose disgraced former N.Y. Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiners shady social media activities; California blogger Patrick Frey, a deputy district attorney at Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office who recently posted a bone-chilling account and audio of his summer 2011 SWAT-ting on his blog, Patterico.com; and CNN contributor and RedState.com managing editor Erick Erickson, whose Georgia home was targeted by a faker claiming an accidental shooting there late last month.

A common thread among these and other online targets: They all have published web links, commentary or investigative pieces related to Brett Kimberlin, the infamous Speedway Bomber. In 1978, Kimberlin was sentenced to more than 50 years in federal prison for drug dealing, impersonating a federal officer and a bombing spree in Speedway, Ind.

Investigative journalist/researcher Mandy Nagy, who blogs for the late Andrew Breitbarts Internet media powerhouse, Breitbart.com, dared to chronicle Kimberlins lucrative business and political ventures over the past two years. Kimberlin has a large hand in two well-funded outfits, Velvet Revolution and the Justice Through Music Project, that have received funding from the likes of George Soros Tides Foundation and left-wing activist and singer Barbra Streisand. The charitable groups have viciously attacked prominent conservative individuals and groups, including Breitbart, investigative journalist James OKeefe and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

After providing brief pro bono legal services to a liberal blogger who refused to whitewash Kimberlins past, conservative blogger and lawyer Aaron Walker lost his job. His employer was terrified by the thought of Kimberlin bombing his office and also fired Walkers wife.

National Bloggers Club President Ali Akbar was targeted for spearheading charity efforts for Kimberlin targets; stalkers publicized his mothers home, and Texas authorities are now investigating. Another conservative blogger who had the audacity to report on Walkers plight, Robert Stacy McCain, was forced to move out of his home last month after Kimberlin phoned his wifes employer and intimidated his family.

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Malkin: Free speech put at risk as bloggers harassed, subjected to SWAT-ting