In one of the most sweeping attacks on free speech in America, the Arizona legislature has passed a draconian bill that would criminalize speech on the Internet (“any electronic or digital device”) that prosecutors consider “obscene, lewd or profane language or . . . suggest[ing] a lewd or lascivious act if done with intent to ‘annoy,’ ‘offend,’ ‘harass’ or ‘terrify.’” The law is largely undefined and is in my view facially unconstitutional. The law would drive a stake in the heart of free speech. Yet, people like Bill Clinton have been calling for such a crackdown on Internet speech for years.
The inclusion of terms like “profane” (defined as including “Abusive, vulgar, or irreverent language” in standard dictionaries) is perfectly bizarre. I cannot imagine that the law was put through any serious legal review. The state will end up paying for litigation of this unconstitutional law. Indeed, I am reluctant to quote from the law on this blog in fear of being prosecuted or being charged with the inclusion of something so obscene and profane.
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer will now have to decide whether to sign this law.
Former president Bill Clinton proposed a law to create what has been denounced as a type of Ministry of Truth for the Internet where officials would monitor the Internet for rumors or untruths. Clinton heralded such a move as “a legitimate thing to do.” He added “it would be like, I don’t know, National Public Radio or BBC or something like that, except it would have to be really independent and they would not express opinions, and their mandate would be narrowly confined to identifying relevant factual errors . . . And also, they would also have to have citations so that they could be checked in case they made a mistake. Somebody needs to be doing it, and maybe it’s a worthy expenditure of taxpayer money.”
The sponsors of this repellant law are Representatives Ted Vogt, Vic Williams, and Chad Campbell. Vogt (shown here) just graduated from the University of Arizona law school in 2010 and has already applied his hand to denying free speech and limiting tort recovery for accident victims. Quite the start for a legislative legacy.
We have long recognized that free speech comes with bad speech and good speech. Yet we have refused to allow the government to sort out those two categories. As Justice Brennan stated in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964), we must remain faithful to “a profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open, and that it may well include vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials.” The addition of an intent factor is meaningless under this law when the mere intent to “annoy” or “harass” is enough to satisfy scienter. The law would sweep away protected speech and allow arbitrary enforcement of terms that are not only undefined but undefinable in the context of Internet speech.
The solution for bad speech is more speech not more regulation of speech.
Source: MCNBC
Do you have a spam issue on this website; I also am a blogger, and I was wanting to know your situation;
many of us have developed some nice procedures and we are looking to trade methods with other folks,
please shoot me an email if interested.
Not sure where to post this about Michigan Governor and the tossing out of democracy.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2011/03/11/michigan-governor-plays-fast-and-loose-with-democracy-invokes-radical-new-powers/
Bill text: http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2011-2012/billengrossed/House/pdf/2011-HEBS-4214.pdf
This just in……The People of the United States as is their sovereign right have just passed a sweeping law criminalizing Arizona politicians and all of their scribbling.
In other news the people of the United States are considering charges of Treason against members of the Congress and Senate of the United States, although some feel the cost of court time could be reduced by arresting them under the NDAA.
Stay tuned for further developments as this story unfolds.
Oh and as far as profanity and fear inducing speech Banker and Politician are the most profane words I can think of.
The lawmakers should realize that if they make and pass laws that simulate a guillotine for the American people, then be forewarned, that they and their families will be standing first in line for the real one.
Well F- – – Them! Come and get me. Maybe they will send Sheriff Joe after me? This is absurd. All the while I thought Arizona was going to raise us out of several messes, and now this. If I hear the knock, should I yell: “Is that you, Joe?”. I just wonder how they will police this? Let us all send our really raunchy emails and letters to their legislature. Let them arrest us all. You know, when the real collapse occurs, these legislators are going to be hurting. I do have a job for each and every one of them, and it involves a long wooden handle on a hot day.
I live in Arizona and only heard about this last night on Jimmy Kimmel. I have not seen a single story about this on ABC local news. I may have missed it, I don’t know. I do know that this story has not made it to my Facebook time line where I am subscribed to that local news channels’ news and updates. Our local news is grossly lacking in local politics unless it is a sex scandal or yet another Sheriff Joe story, Jan doing something outlandish or how many illegal aliens have been freed from a slave holders’ (coyotes) drop house just to be placed in the deportation line. Also, the hundreds of pounds of drugs caught up each week, not making it to the north or east are big news.
I would like to see Freedom of Speech and any other rights I have being taken away as a top story. I doubt this will be signed into law as our Attorney General will surely advise Jan on the constitutionality (or un) of this case and she will listen. Constitutional rights are important to us here, all of them!