District Court Judge David Carter delivered a crushing blow against free speech rights in elementary schools in an outrageous case out of Orange County. Principal Jesus Becerra at Viejo Elementary punished a seven-year-old girl named B.B. in the lawsuit for writing “any life” under a “Black Lives Matter” picture. Judge Carter issued a sweeping decision that said that she has no free speech rights in the matter due to her age and that the school is allowed to engage in raw censorship. He is now being appealed.
The message from the school seems to be that black lives matter but free speech does not. The school found a kindred spirit in Judge David Carter.
After a lesson on Martin Luther King and Black Lives Matter, B.B. gave her picture to a friend, believing the inclusive image of four shapes of different races and the words would be comforting to a friend. However, when that child showed the picture to a parent, a complaint was filed that B.B.’s picture was insensitive and offensive. Becerra responded by disciplining the child for her inclusive picture.
Becerra should be fired, but his extreme views and lack of judgment is hardly unique in education. The far greater damage was created by Carter’s opinion.
Judge Carter ruled that B.B. has no free speech to protect due to her age, but that “students have the right to be free from speech that denigrates their race while at school.”
Judge Carter added that “an elementary school … is not a marketplace of ideas… Thus, the downside of regulating speech there is not as significant as it is in high schools, where students are approaching voting age and controversial speech could spark conducive conversation.”
The court leaves a vacuum of protected rights that he fills with what seems unchecked authority for the school: “a parent might second-guess (the principal’s) conclusion, but his decision to discipline B.B. belongs to him, not the federal courts.”
The Pacific Legal Foundation, has now filed a petition with the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of Chelsea Boyle and her child, B.B.
In my view, Judge Carter is dead wrong, though I expect he will find support among some of the judges on the Ninth Circuit.
The Court applies the famous ruling in Tinker v. Des Moines Indep. Cmty. Sch. Dist., 393 U.S. 503 (1969), as a license for sweeping censorship and discipline. Yet, the Court held in Tinker that students have free speech rights and that any restrictions require evidence of “interference, actual or nascent, with the schools’ work or collision with the rights of other students to be secure and to be let alone.” It then imposes a high standard that it must “materially disrupt[] classwork or involves substantial disorder or invasion of the rights of others.” This disruption must be “caused by something more than a mere desire to avoid the discomfort and unpleasantness that always accompany an unpopular viewpoint.”
However, what is more disturbing is the disconnection of the right from anything but a narrow functionalist view of free speech. In my new book, “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage,” I criticize the functionalist approaches that tie the protection of free speech to its function in advancing a democracy.
I argue for a return to the view of free speech as a natural or human right — a view that was popular at the beginning of our Republic but soon lost to functionalist rationales. Those rationales allow for the type of endless trade-offs evident in the Carter decision.
Carter’s functionalist or instrumentalist approach makes it easier to simply discard any free speech rights in elementary students. In my view, they have free speech rights as human beings as do their parents. Under Carter’s approach, schools can engage in a wide array of indoctrination by declaring opposing political and social views to be “disruptive.”
Ironically, my book criticizes Judge Carter in another case over his failure to consider free speech concerns. In his decision in the January 6th case involving John Eastman, Carter dismisses his arguments that he had a right to present his novel theory against certification of the election.
While many of us disagreed with Eastman, there was a concern over efforts to strip lawyers of their bar licenses and even use criminal charges against such figures. However, what concerned me the most was sweeping language used by Carter in his decision.
Carter’s narrow view of free speech and his expansive view of state authority is hardly unique. B.B. is devoid of free speech protections even in this outrageously abusive case. The reason is that she is not of an age where her speech is viewed as worthy of protection. It is an example of the distortive and corrosive effect of functionalism in free speech jurisprudence in my view.
Like it has Been said. Black Lives Matter Unless They Are Black Lives Taken By Other Blacks. https://torrancestephensphd.substack.com/p/black-lives-matter-unless-they-are
There is 100% free speech in America and all of its institutions. But there are limits to freedom of speech that we must be cognizant of.
The most important of these limits is that the speech must meet with the approval of an authorized Government Authority as specified in Article 1 of the Global Confederation.
The objective is not to offend the whims of the true powers behind the Global Confederation. And it’s only common sense that the population comply with these mandates. Noncompliance will necessarily result in various forms of punishment based on the whims of the true powers behind the Global Confederation.
he ha sido
The core complaint is that the phrase “all lives matter” is offensive to those who support the Black Lives Matter movement.
The fact that the Black Lives Matter, but all whites and cops are racist and evil, offends many, doesn’t seem to matter, when someone’s value scale is proportional to their basal melanin concentration.
“All lives matter” is inclusive. The claim that “Black Lives Matter” only refers to the history of prejudice against black people is demonstrably false. It is frequently accompanied by rhetoric against whites, Asians, Jews, and police. BLM is an inherently racist, pro-crime movement. “Cops are pigs. Fry ’em like bacon” was one of its most infamous slogans. BLM centered curriculum taught elementary school children that they were born oppressors or oppressed, based on their skin color.
I agree with the judge that students should be free from speech that denigrate their race in elementary school. The rhetoric that only Black Lives Matter, and that this child is evil for essentially saying she, along with everyone else, matter, too, subjected her to harassment that denigrated multiple races.
This episode is another reminder that the Left is a totalitarian movement.
Karen S: where do you get this sh(t you write? Black lives DO matter–except to people like you. People who support the Black Lives Matter movement do not engage in rhetoric against whites, Asians, jews or police, and saying that black lives matter is not “inherently racist” or “pro-crime”. There is NO “BLM centered curriculum” taught to school children–that is a frequently-repeated MAGA media lie. People who object to “all lives matter” feel that it dilutes the message that “black lives matter” because black people are disproportionately killed by white police officers–that is a fact and saying so is not “totalitarian”.
You don’t even understand what a “totalitarian” movement is–your hero wants to enact one via Project 2025, drafted by 140 former members of his admininstration, which WOULD BE a totalitarian regime,. A foreword in Project 2025 was written by J.D. Vance that calls for a “Second American Revolution”, in which Christian Nationalist views are forced on Americans, the president would have unprecedented power to eliminate government agencies, including NOAA (because it talks about climate change–so eliminate NOAA and you eliminate climate change that the fossil fuel industry want to pretend does not exist), the Department of Education, to fire civil servants who refuse to carry out the politically-based commands of the president, to weaponize the DOJ and FBI to go after the president’s perceived enemies, cut back on school luch programs and SNAP benefits, ban all abortions and IVF, and massive tax cuts for the wealthiest.
WHAT is “the Left” doing that constitutes a “totalitarian movement”? Turley reported one incident involving one school. That does not constitute a “movement”, but Project 2025 does.
It’s Agenda 47.
It’s a freedom of speech issue and speech comes in many types. Most of it is functional. There is the singular type and that’s the type that refutes instinct. It’s morality.
BB having done no offense was punished because she was white by a principal and teachers. She sees fists on posters everyday.
She’s 7 years old and wanting to be social. It what 7 year olds do. She drew a fine picture showing industry. She was punished for it and the emotional confusion will remain. She may show Mal development at some time.
Freedom of speech is multiform in listening, speaking, reading and writing. If children have unlimited freedom then it also means unlimited listening. This has the potential of appropriate listening by maturity. Is it true 7 year old children can listen or read pornography. Be careful what you wish.
The speech center in the human brain does not show in any other living organisms. MT is correctwhen he says it’s an innate natural freedom of humans. It sets mankind apart from all other intelligent life forms known.
How did BLM make itself into California’s curriculum standards? BLM is a non-prifit organization created to fight white supremacy liberating black people according to Cicley Gay, chairman of the foundation.
It began with 90 million dollars of donations. It has attorneys. It’s under some scrutiny as a chapter filed for a portion of assets.
Mr. Becerra had to punish BB for her feelings of white supremacy found nowhere in State adopted curriculum.
BB and her parents moved to Florida from California after unceasing harassment.
“…it dilutes the message that “black lives matter” because black people are disproportionately killed by white police officers–that is a fact and saying so is not “totalitarian”.
Disparate impact is a tacit admission that certain groups are affected by their own behavior at a greater rate than the general population. If a certain segment of the black population would like to be shot less often by police perhaps they could choose to commit less crimes. Unless, and this may not be out of the question, you believe that the police simply go around cites looking for people to kill.
The core of the complaint is BB was punished by the principal and teachers for being white. Becerra admitted the drawing was innocent but punished her.
Again, BB was punished not because of an offense. She was punished for being white. It’s part of the school’s values. White children should feel emotional, confused pain for no reason. It’s good.
BLM is exclusionary. It’s for people of color only. BB was unaware of this and the teacher didn’t make that clear in the lesson. BB was punished as a further lesson in white lives don’t matter.
Observation
Landmark case. Children have freedom of speech. Perhaps becerra is a molester? You’ll be silent or I’ll hurt you?
BB offered a dissent thinking it isn’t only black lives that matter . It is any life matters. She extended the lesson and the innovation , addition is what she took away from the lesson.
BB is unaware of profiling as in the Trayvon Martin case and BLM.
The matter is free speech. It’s more difficult to indoctrinate children if they have freedom of speech.
Becerra should be charged with child abuse.
There must always be an enemy. For me to be unoppressed I must oppress you as if that were a natural process.
It’s a lack of generosity having no experience of abundance.
It reminds me of the callousness of Rashida Talaib saying rape is a weapon of war, of course. It’s part of it.
If an American soldier thought that he’d be arrested. The USA must be Tlaib’s place of birth and not her country rings a bell.
Professor Turley,
https://reason.com/2024/07/26/trump-calls-for-jailing-flag-burners/
Trump calls for jailing flag burners, and yet you think the left is the primary threat to freedom of speech?
Every time there is a spate of anti-American flag burning, there are renewed debates about whether deliberately burning the American flag should constitute a crime.
I do not agree with Trump that burning a flag, a Bible, or a Koran, should be a crime, though such acts elicit a visceral reaction in me.
Burning the American flag should be condemned on moral and patriotic grounds, but not criminalized.
The Executive Branch does not create new laws. That’s the legislative branch. Trump has the right to his own opinion on flag burning, but as president, he would make no laws.
What we witnessed in DC was a mob of thousands of anti-American, homicidal anti-semites, calling for the destruction of Israel, and the murder of every Jewish man, woman, and child within her. I saw the flag of Hamas raised, which is equivalent to a Nazi flag. I saw anti-American protestors burn our flag, calling for the destruction of our own country. The mob assaulted police officers, even hurling human feces at them. Then there were the burning effigies of Netanyahu. Only 10 were arrested, when last I checked, as the 29 Park police officers were overwhelmed. It was like observing a bunch of Germans howling their support for the Third Reich outside of DC.
Democrats have normalized antisemitism and support for terrorism. Democrats in Congress ludicrously held up “War Criminal” signs during Netanyahu’s speech, which would require a breathtaking level of ignorance about the conflict in Gaza.
Before you claim that Trump’s wish that burning the American flag were a crime, you are to consider how often the Supreme Court found President Biden’s Executive Orders to be unconstitutional. The entire raison d’être for SCOTUS is to determine if a law is unconstitutional. Someone is not a dictator if a law they promote or wish for is struck down by SCOTUS.
We have watched the Democrat Party collusion between the government, social media, Youtube, Google, and the mainstream media to censor free speech, for years, yet you seriously expect us to react with horror if Trump wishes flag burning were criminalized, which would not hold up in court due to precedent on free speech? Only one party has ACTUALLY interfered with free speech with regularity in decades, and that’s the Democrat Party.
It should be made illegal by the use of lawfare:
Illegal burning, burning without a permit, burning without an adequate suppression plan, etc., ca-ching, ca-ching, ca-ching….
Your irrational hatred of Democrats is truly scary There is NO “collusion” between the “Democrat Party” and traditional media and social media. Turley is paid to try to create such a nexus, but it doesn’t exist. Trump started an insurrection when he was voted out of office by lying about a nonexistent victory being stolen by fraud. He calls our military “suckers and losers”, and was a draft dodger. He is a sociopath, because only a sociopath could behave like he does and have the gall to stand in front of American flags and tell the lies he tells over and over. Everything he says about flag burning, lying about Project 2025 and his position on abortion is a lie–calculated to get votes. The truth is, he’s afraid of going to jail, and is desperate.
Netanyahu has allowed Palestinian children to die of thirst and starvation, while he continues bombing Gaza back to the Stone Age. And what has the relentless bombing accomplished–very few hostages have been released, but tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians have been killed, mostly women and children. Estimates are that it will take more than 20 years to rebuild homes in Gaza. What are the Palestinian people supposed to do–where are they to live, where to get food and water? Netanyahu tells Gazans to go here or there, and then bombs those locations. He refuses to allow in humanitarian aid, to allow people with medical needs to leave, and has bombed almost all hospitals. The UN has condemed Israel’s conduct, including Israel’s wrongful occupation of the West Bank. Netanyahu has the gall to come to America to beg for more bombs and bullets so he can kill more Palestinians. He’s trying to hang onto power by killing as many Palestinians as possible–HE”S the barbarian here. There is no proportionality to what happend on Oct 7 and what Netanyahu has done since. He is unapologetic. How can any decent human being stand by and watch innocent babies starve to death and their mothers not having enough clean drinking water to even produce breast milk? The children who survive will be permanently impaired mentally and physically, and we’re just supposed to look the other way? The Palestinian Authority did NOT conduct the terrorist attack on October 7–that was Hamas, which is a terrorist organization. Yes, people are upset, including with the refusal of polticians of both parties to refuse to stand up to Israel and withhold further aid until they agree to a cease-fire. Let them go somewhere else to purchase their bullets and bombs. Israel gets more American tax dollars than any other country- and what are they doing with the money–killing innocent people and starving them. That’s just wrong. Your effort to compare protests over Netanyahu with Nazi Germany are pathetic.
Karen S: how many times have court struck down Trump Executive Orders? The SCOTUS has the lowest approval rating in is history–and for good reason–it does not honor stare decisis, 4 members lied to get onto the bench, 3 were appointed by a POTUS who cheated his way into office, and Obama was denied a SCOTUS pick by McConnell. There are serious allegations of improprieites involving Alito’s wife and Thomas’s wife, both of whom publicly supported the insurrection, and yet they sat on cases involving January 6th.
Karen: you do not speak for “we”.
Israel has sent 2,000 to 3,000 calories per person in Gaza. Hamas seizes the aid, and sells it on the black market, or keeps it. Hamas is the government of Gaza, and in charge of the distribution of aid, and they are also terrorists. To Hamas, Palestinian civilians are useful sheep to use as human shields, and whose deaths helps their cause.
No other country in history has gone to such lengths to try to support and aid a civilian population on the opposing side of a war, and definitely not when that civilian population overwhelmingly supports the destruction of the country.
The Allies didn’t ship food, medicine, and comforts to the Germans in Germany.
Finally, it is ignorant to accept casualty figures from terrorists. Even the UN had to drastically reduced the number and gender distribution of casualties, as it was proven Hamas lied about casualties as part of its anti-Israel propaganda.
If you’re upset about Palestinians going hungry, blame Hamas for seizing the aid shipped to them.
You are quite vehemently antisemitic in your hostility to Israel.
Also, the “suckers and losers” comment was never proven. Myriad people who were actually there said it never happened. It’s just propaganda, like your oft repeated fallacy that Trump called Neo Nazis “very fine people”, when he actually said, “and I’m not talking about the Neo Nazis or White Supremacists, who should be condemned totally.”
Recently, a violent mob of thousands of antisemites, who stormed DC and assaulted cops, even throwing human feces, waiving the terrorist Hamas flag, calling, “Long live the Intifada” which refers to the murder of civilian Jews, and pointing out Jews for Al-Qassam to murder. These are Democrat voters. I would like to point out your own worsening hostility towards Israel, and the increasingly antisemitic tenor of your comments. Antisemitism is normalized in the Democrat Party.
Trump calls for jailing flag burners, and yet you think the left is the primary threat to freedom of speech?
Yes, absolutely. Even if Trump actually managed to jail flag burners (which he can’t and won’t do, no matter what he wishes), that threat to freedom of speech would completely pale in comparison to the left’s daily assault on it. I’d personally rather jail 100 flag burners than allow what happened to this little girl; that is a far greater offense against the freedom of speech. They’re both offenses, but this is greater.
On an another possible First Amendment and Fourth Amendment case. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (civil liberties organization specializing in online rights) uncovered that some public school officials were contracting with “School Laptop Computer” companies to also potentially violate parent’s rights.
Some public school officials (government employees) were making deals with computer companies to provide laptops to children. The parents were essentially forced to sign the contracts in order to get the laptops.
Then some school officials were monitoring, spying and censoring children in their private homes (outside school property). Reminder: this practice potentially could put children at risk since those laptops were equipped with cameras, GPS location information that any hacker (government or criminal) could access with a judicial court warrant as the Fourth Amendment legally requires.
During the 1970’s didn’t the courts rule that “parents” (private citizens) had censorship authority over children, not government officials (public school officials in this case)? This created the TV/Movie parental ratings empowering parents not officials.
A seven-year old girl has the presence of mind and moral character to recognize that her life matters, too, all lives matter. #BabyLivesMatter #HateLovesAbortion
My question to the courts is “so at what age should a person have free speech rights.” Is it 13, 18 21?
Proof once again that the Adults in the room can’t handle an unspoiled opinion
“[JT’s] book references do indeed become tiresome.”
Those chronic complaints are a gross injustice to JT — your host. The creator of this site.
You are getting his brain for free — daily. Sometimes twice daily. You are getting an opportunity, that *he created*, to comment for free. You are getting an opportunity, that *he created*, to think about other comments.
There is no fee for this blog. There aren’t even ads to wade through.
Yet you wish to deny him the right to profit from the internationally famous blog that *he created* to publicize a book that *he wrote*.
Take your ingratitude elsewhere.
He’s got a rather lengthy past filled with bad decisions and distorted views.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/28/politics/david-carter-trump-anna-nicole-smith-homeless/index.html
Regarding children and freespeech
An alarming and I’ll story. Principal Becerra knew BB was innocent and punished her for being white and the teacher followed suit and punished her. BB should not be in that hell pit.
Imagine children without free speech. They’ve been molested and if you tell I’ll hurt you.
Truly ill. BB was injured for being white and silenced.
George, in defense of communist black racists culturally appropriating a white communist’s Critical Theory: Like discussing CRT in schools, right?
Herbert Marcuse, a very lily white Marxist/Communist brought Critical Theory to the USA from Europe while fleeing Hitler’s version of Marxism: National Socialism. Oh, the irony in THAT!
Critical Theory Marxism is a form of Marxist theory that emerged from the Frankfurt School and combined elements of Marx, Hegel and Kant. There have been books written on Critical Theory repeatedly for decades before Black Liars & Marxists and other black racists like Obama’s bestie Louise Farrakhan culturally appropriated it a few years ago.
The black Marxist racists simply took Critical Theory and substituted skin color for economic class. Therefore, blacks were substituted for Marx’s worker victims, while whites were substituted for The Bosses. The Soviet Democrats that depended on racism before the Civil War and then as Kluxxer Democrats after losing the Civil War up until the early 70’s are now dependent on telling little white children in schools that they are racists right from the moment of birth. And little black children that they are doomed to be the victims of their little white friends who are their oppressors.
The racist leaders of Black Liars And Marxists and the leaders who morphed Marxist Critical Theory into Critical Race Theory have found they can tap the wallets of Marxist Useful Idiots and advance The Long March To Communism by kicking Martin Luther King into the corner with his BS about “content of your character instead of the color of your skin”.
That so many of my friends and those who came before us died overseas so you would have the right and security to pimp and lie in order to promote teaching racism to young children is one of the great tragedies of serving this country in uniform. Teaching kids to be racists in elementary schools, to make them racists like George is… now that is truly evil, you sick evil sub-human communists.
The Harris campaign sent House Democrats a memo today, instructing them to all dutifully repeat that Kamala was not the border czar.
You’ll find that in the dems post under word for the day. Robust is still a favorite.
Someone please point out what was racist in BB’s drawing? Please someone?
No one answered the question. They don’t know the answer.
My God, this casechad better be argued correctly. It exposes the hate groups silencing and harming children. Becerra runs a hate group formed to punish and harm white children because they’re white.
Fired? No , Mr. Turley, arrested and prosecuted for hate crimes.
Thank you for the expose.
The very same media outlets that ran dozens of story’s about Harris’s apointment as Border Czar, and the work she was doing, are now fact checking conservatives claiming that saying Harris was Border Czar is a right wing conspiracy theory.
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
“Zuckerberg responds to Musk fight invitation: ‘Are we really doing this again?’”
https://thehill.com/policy/technology/4792452-zuckerberg-musk-fight-invite/
Two clowns — no waiting. Earth is in serious trouble if THESE are the “smart” guys.
An Anonymous clown wrote: Two clowns — no waiting. Earth is in serious trouble if THESE are the “smart” guys.
One of those clowns figured out how to get the United States back into space when the government couldn’t figure out how to get our astronauts into space.
The other clown figured out that the same federal government will pay you millions to act as their censor hiding the Biden Bribery Laptop story and reporting on its contents – and only give you a massive fine for pouring over $400 million Zuckerbucks into selected districts in battleground states to get out the Soviet Democrat vote to win Biden the election. No jail for you, Tovarisch Zuckerberg.
BTW, there’s a way to escape being an Anonymous clown, quivering in fear anonymous in the shadows because you’re such a clown you can’t figure out how to post with a username to accompany all your posts.
Signed,
Old Airborne Dog
Worst LOSER at this garbage site says what?
You certainly seem to spend a lot of time at this “garbage” website.
“Harris joins TikTok following candidacy announcement”
https://thehill.com/homenews/4793730-kamala-harris-tik-tok/
The initial announcement was a bit confusing, so Harris issued this clarification:
“TikTok is a social media company, and when you join TicTok you’ve joined a social media company, and the name of the social media company you’ve joined is called TicTok.”
Hopefully that clarifies the situation.
Makes you want Joe Back
It makes me think we should just have a lottery to choose a president.
We couldn’t do worse than Joetard or Harris, the odds would favor us getting much more intelligent leadership than either of these two, and it would save billions of dollars and months worth of pure nonsense.