Minnesotans are familiar with the perils of “snow blindness,” a temporary blindness caused by overexposure to ultraviolet rays from the reflection from snow and ice. It appears that Minnesota politicians and prosecutors have a type of mob blindness, where they cannot see crimes committed in front of them by the far left. That condition appears to be tragically evident in St. Paul, where City Attorney Irene Kao made an absurd denial of any criminal activity at the demonstration in the City Church on Jan. 18th. While claiming that there were no observable crimes, Kao’s decision just happened to be enormously popular with the mob-driven politics and polling in her state. Continue reading “Minnesota Mob Blindness: St. Paul Prosecutor Drops All Charges Against City Church Demonstrators”
Category: Free Speech
It appears that being unrelentingly woke means that you need fewer dormitories. The University of Oregon is facing a major budget crisis and will cut $65 million from its budget and close dorms due to low enrollment. That growing crisis, however, did not stop Oregon from burning almost a million dollars fighting against free speech. It also did not induce its faculty to offer greater intellectual diversity and tolerance to prospective students. Oregon is a cautionary tale for a generation of academic social warriors, but also an opportunity for those who want to restore balance in higher education. Continue reading “Facing the Big Zero: The University of Oregon Grapples With a Budget Crisis After Years of Woke Excess”
I have been writing about the decline of free speech in the United Kingdom for years, including in my book The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage. One of the most critical components of the British censorship system is Ofcom, the Office of Communications, which regulates the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications, and postal industries. The most recent controversy is detailed in the Telegraph, with Ofcom investigating GB News over the simple replaying of a Trump interview in which he called climate change a “hoax.” Continue reading “British Ofcom Investigates Airing of Trump Interview Calling Climate Change a “Hoax””
In the global anti-free speech movement, Maria Ressa stands apart. The 2021 Nobel Peace Prize winner and Columbia professor has used her celebrated position to call for censorship in the name of tolerance and diversity. She is showered with accolades as she calls for curtailing speech with a highly sophisticated, though at times Orwellian, pitch. In the cause of tolerance, she calls for viewpoint intolerance, particularly in the regulation of speech on the Internet.
That was evident this week as she spoke at Dartmouth’s Division of Institutional Diversity and Equity Social Justice Awards. The most insidious aspect of this campaign is how academic and other groups regularly portray Ressa as a free speech advocate.
When hundreds of thousands of Britons joined the recent Unite the Kingdom rally, the government of Keir Starmer wanted them to know that they were being watched for possible arrest. By deploying facial recognition systems and invoking the United Kingdom’s anti-free speech laws, Starmer’s government made it clear that it would not tolerate anything it considered hateful or xenophobic, on the heels of its losses to Reform UK in council elections. Continue reading “Starmer Government Doubles Down on Anti-Free Speech Policies”
After students and faculty at Georgetown successfully campaigned to cancel commencement speaker Morton Schapiro over his support for Israel, there is a similar movement to cancel NYU Professor and author Jonathan Haidt as the graduation speaker at New York University. Haidt is being targeted for his opposition to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and, ironically, his opposition to cancel culture. Continue reading “NYU Students Demand Cancellation of Haidt as Commencement Speaker Over Opposition to DEI and Cancel Culture”
Northern Ireland is finally safe. Clive Johnston has been convicted and can no longer menace the public.
Johnson, 78, is a retired pastor who committed the heinous offense of preaching near the Causeway Hospital in Coleraine. That was considered within the “safe access zone” under Northern Ireland’s Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act. Continue reading “Northern Ireland Convicts 78-Year-Old Minister for Preaching Near Abortion Clinic”
I am having a tough week. I was recently compelled to write a column expressing skepticism about the prosecution of former FBI Director James Comey for shell art posted on social media, despite being one of his longest and most vocal critics. Now, I find myself having to write a column in defense of former Northwestern University President Morton Schapiro, who was just dumped as the commencement speaker for Georgetown Law School. I have criticized Schapiro for years as a major force in destroying the intellectual diversity in higher education. Continue reading “The Mob Comes for Morton Schapiro: Georgetown Law School Replaces Pro-Israel Speaker After Protests” 
Berkeley has long been viewed as one of the most viewpoint-intolerant universities in the United States. Conservatives and those with opposing views are rarely invited and often face protests or cancellations. Some of us have long accused the Berkeley administrators and faculty of fostering this culture of intolerance. That culture was again on full display in the cancellation of an event with Jeffrey Dean, Chief Scientist at Google, in Jarvis Auditorium on Friday, May 1. The passive position taken by the campus police speaks volumes about why Berkeley is an academic echo chamber. The university reportedly maintained that it will take no action in preventing such disruptions absent violence. In adopting this position, the university effectively enables a heckler’s veto. The inexplicable position would leave the level of permitted speech to the mob at Berkeley. Continue reading “Berkeley Refuses to Act as Pro-Palestinian Protesters Disrupt Campus Event”
I recently spoke on Rage and the Republic at Cornell University and posted about the beauty of the school with the return of flowers and birds in the Spring. What I fortunately missed was the seasonal return of harassing protesters. That experience was reserved this week for Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff, who is now embroiled in controversy over a parking-lot confrontation. Continue reading “Cornell President Accused of Hitting An Anti-Israel Protester After Being Surrounded in Parking Lot”
In “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage,” I write about how censorship often becomes an insatiable appetite once countries go down the road of speech regulation. There is no better example than the Dutch and their recent ban on public ads for meat and fossil fuels. Activists have imposed similar limitations on advertising for products in the United States, from alcohol to tobacco. However, the Dutch law reflects how this tendency can metastasize into shielding citizens from unhealthy choices or influences. Continue reading “Carbon Neutral, Speech Negative: Amsterdam Bans Advertisements Featuring Meat and Fossil Fuels”
The University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law has brought a new meaning to the heckler’s veto. Some of us criticized the law school for its failure to hold students accountable for disrupting a recent Federalist Society event featuring James Percival, general counsel of the Department of Homeland Security. While the law school administration does not appear interested in holding the protesters accountable, it has threatened the Federalist Society that it could face discipline if it identifies any of the students who disrupted the event. This perfectly surreal position was stated in a letter from Bayrex Martí, UCLA’s assistant dean for student affairs. Continue reading “Heckler’s Veto: UCLA Warns Federalist Society Not to Reveal Identity of Student Protesters”
Below is my column on Fox.com on the second indictment of former FBI director James Comey. Despite being one of Comey’s longest critics, the indictment raises troubling free speech issues. In the end, it must be the Constitution, not Comey, that drives the analysis and this indictment is unlikely to withstand constitutional scrutiny. If it did, it would allow the government to criminalize a huge swath of political speech in the United States.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “Shell Speech: Why the Second Comey Indictment is Likely to Fail”
The slogan of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) may be “Let there be light,” but a recent Federalist Society event produced more heat than light in the law school. Students and faculty wanted to hear from James Percival, general counsel of the Department of Homeland Security, on a host of issues. However, students organized to prevent others from hearing from Percival, who was drowned out by profanity and cellphones at the event. Continue reading “More Heat Than Light: UCLA Students Disrupt Federalist Society Event”
The indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center on federal fraud charges this week is the start of what could become not just a major criminal prosecution but a major constitutional challenge. At issue is whether the Center’s secret operations to enlist and pay informers constituted fraud of its donors. Continue reading “The SPLC Indictment: Can Public Interest Groups Run Alleged Black-Bag Jobs and Confidential Informants?”