Showing posts with label free expression. Show all posts
Showing posts with label free expression. Show all posts

David Harsanyi: The First Amendment Is Dying

Congress shall make no law, but...   "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;" Unless we're talking about a white chocolate-paneled cake for a gay wedding or perpetual funding for "women's health" clinics because it's the "right thing to do." "or abridging the freedom of speech;"   ... MORE

When You're Popular, You Don't Need Freedom Of Speech

by Andrew Sirios.    The rise of the left, the demise of the west. Free speech is not something that people would normally see as a realm of economics, but in many ways, an economic understanding of the support and opposition to free speech can shed a lot of light on what’s happening now in the West. The first thing that needs to be noted is that  ... MORE

To The Paranoid Missouri Crybaby Children Unable to Cope With The Crushing Effects Of Hurtful Speech: Call The Cops

by Eugene Volokh.   Prof. Thom Lambert (Truth on the Market) passes along the following Missouri-University-wide e-mail: Subject: Reporting Hateful and/or Hurtful Speech. To continue to ensure that the University of Missouri campus remains safe, the MU Police Department (MUPD) is asking individuals who witness incidents of hateful and/or hurtful ... MORE

John Stossel: Censorship In America

Hate speech is less dangerous than censorship. Support for the idea that it's good to hear all opinions, even offensive ones, is thin. A plurality of Americans now support laws against "hate speech." Conservatives once wanted to ban Playboy magazine, violent rap lyrics and offensive depictions of Jesus. Leftists then were right to fight    ... MORE

Protect Free Speech Inside And Outside Of Courtrooms

Because justice is a result, not just a process.  In 2012, an 80-year-old retired chemistry professor was indicted on jury tampering charges for passing out brochures in a plaza outside a federal courthouse in New York. Those brochures regarded "jury nullification," an option available to jurors who might agree that a defendant broke the  ... MORE

John W. Whitehead: Sheep Led To The Slaughter

The muzzling of free speech in America.      “If the freedom of speech be taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” —George Washington     The architects of the American police state must think we’re idiots. With every passing day, we’re being moved further down the road towards a totalitarian society        ... MORE

Padding The Stats: 'Remarks About Physical Appearance' Considered 'Sexual Violence' In Rutgers Student Survey

Failing to differentiate rude remarks from forcible rape.    A new survey of Rutgers University students reinforces the idea that one in four college women will be victims of sexual assault... but only if you don't look at the study too closely. Zoom in and you'll find the same problems that plague so much research about sex crimes on college       ... MORE

The Next Front In The War On Religious Freedom

by David Harsanyi.        Stop bellyaching about Washington. All the country's best fascists are on your local city council. Not long ago, Colorado became a leader in the fight against religious freedom, when its Civil Rights Commission, self-appointed ministers of justice and theology, decided that a shopkeeper who refuses to participate in a gay ... MORE

United States Drops In Overall Freedom Ranking -- Again

by Casey Harper.   Freedom in US is headed toward the sunset. A new report on the freedom of countries around the world ranks the United States 20th, putting countries like Chile and the United Kingdom ahead of the U.S. Last year, the U.S. was ranked 17th, but a steady decline of economic freedom and “rule of law” has dropped the level    ... MORE

VIDEO: Can Americans Still Take A Joke? Comedians Say No

Paul Detrick: Do Rappers Have 1st Amendment Protection?

After all, popular speech needs no protection.     The movie Straight Outta Compton, which opens this weekend, dramatizes the emergence of southern California hip-hop rap group N.W.A. In 1988, the group's album of the same name popularized gangsta rap music with lyrics detailing the realities of life in gang-ridden South Central L.A.   ... MORE

Walter E Williams: Academic Fascism II

Anti-free speech and racist diversity policies.      Last week's column highlighted college campus absurdities and the ongoing attack on free speech and plain common sense. As parents gear up to fork over $20,000 to $60,000 for college tuition, they might benefit from knowing what greets their youngsters. Deceitful college officials, who  ... MORE

College Codes Make 'Color Blindness' A Microaggression

Inciting hyper racial consciousness.     There are many mad and worrying things about the speech codes spreading across campuses like a contagious brain funk. There's their treatment of even everyday words as "problematic" terms of abuse. There's the branding of the most anodyne forms of friendly banter as "aggressive" (apparently it is a        ... MORE

Some Americans Refuse To Give Up On Confederate Flag

by Mark Scolforo.      A symbol of rebellion to some. Many Americans assumed the Confederate flag was retired for good after governors in South Carolina and Alabama removed it from their statehouses this summer and presidential candidates from both parties declared it too divisive for official display.  But people still fly it, and not just in the South.   ... MORE

The State Of Free Speech In America: Panicked Shopper Sees Nazi And Confederate Geer At Flea Market, Calls 911

by Mary Ellen Godin.       Not yet a crime. Local police received a complaint when a shopper discovered Nazi and Confederate merchandise at a popular flea market last weekend, according to Chief William Wright. An officer responded to the Redwood Flea Market on South Turnpike Road Sunday to investigate the report and found Nazi and       ... MORE

I Will Defend Your Right To Fly The Confederate Flag

by Wendy Kaminer. Don’t ask me to defend a Confederate flag display by the state. Unlike private individuals and associations, governments don’t have rights: they exercise power. And while hoisting a Confederate flag on state property isn’t an illegal use of power, it is a politically abusive one, for all the reasons so recently recited in the wake  ... MORE

VIDEO: How Is Offensive Speech Good For Society?

PC Police Could Be On WarPath Against Redskins

by Guardian Web. Washington’s NFL team could face a battle to retain its ‘Redskins’ trademark after lawyers for Native Americans objecting to the name said last week’s supreme court ruling on license plates in Texas boosted their case. The ruling found that the state of Texas was not required to issue specialty license plates featuring the      ... MORE