Category: Free Speech

Columns, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Politics, Society

If You Want to “Stand with Charlie,” Stand With Free Speech

Below is my column that ran earlier on Fox.com on the calls for the termination of academics and others who have criticized Charlie Kirk or expressed satisfaction with his murder. Unfortunately, such hateful remarks are nothing new in academia. However, this is not about them. It is about us, and more importantly, it is about Charlie and what he fought for his entire life. We cannot allow our anger or sorrow to lead us into becoming the very people that Charlie denounced in his life. If you “Stand with Charlie,” you stand with free speech.

Here is the column: Continue reading “If You Want to “Stand with Charlie,” Stand With Free Speech” →

Academia, Free Speech

Turley Speaks in Prague on Free Speech

Today I have the pleasure of speaking on free speech and my book, “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage” in Prague at the  Pražská křižovatka (St. Anne’s Church) (The cultural centre founded by Václav Havel). I have been meeting with the extraordinary free speech community in the Czech Republic, including members of Institute H21 who have been instrumental in focusing attention on the issues surrounding free speech. Europe is now ground zero in the fight for free speech as the European Union ramps up its censorship laws, including the Digital Services Act. Free speech is in a free fall in Europe and these conferences have never been more important.

Continue reading “Turley Speaks in Prague on Free Speech” →

Columns, Criminal law, Free Speech

“Prove me Wrong”: Charlie Kirk’s Final Challenge on Free Speech

Yesterday, the United States entered a new and chilling stage of what I have called the “age of rage.” After two attempted assassinations of President Donald Trump, leading conservative leader Charlie Kirk, father of two, was gunned down at a campus event at Utah Valley University. I learned the news while I was in Prague to speak on my book,“The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage” and the growing attacks on free speech around the world. I never imagined that I would be speaking about Charlie’s murder and what it represents for free speech.

Continue reading ““Prove me Wrong”: Charlie Kirk’s Final Challenge on Free Speech” →

Columns, Free Speech, International

No Joke: Comedian Graham Linehan Arrested in Great Britain Over Three Social Media Postings

Below is my column in Fox.com on the arrest of a well-known comedian in Great Britain. While the three social media posts in question were political commentary rather than jokes, the arrest of Graham Linehan is only the latest arrest of a comedian as part of the global crackdown on free speech. The postings would be considered protected speech in the United States and should be protected anywhere. The rising censorship is literally no joke in various Western countries.

 

Here is the column: Continue reading “No Joke: Comedian Graham Linehan Arrested in Great Britain Over Three Social Media Postings” →

Constitutional Law, Free Speech, International, Politics

No, the President Cannot Strip Rosie O’Donnell of Her Citizenship

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he may strip comedian Rosie O’Donnell of her U.S. citizenship. He has made the threat previously, despite having no authority to do so. In the United States, political critics cannot be stripped of their citizenship, and pursuing such a course would be a fundamental denial of constitutional protections not only under the 14th Amendment but also under the 1st Amendment. Continue reading “No, the President Cannot Strip Rosie O’Donnell of Her Citizenship” →

Academia, Free Speech

Former Arizona Ethics Professor Sues University for Alleged Termination for Speaking Out Against Gender Policies

Former University of Arizona professor Daniel Grossenbach is suing the school over alleged retaliation over his views on gender policies in his children’s school district. Grossenbach, who taught ethics as an adjunct instructor from 2020 to 2023, was a contract faculty member (as opposed to tenured faculty) and was terminated after a cancel campaign over his voicing objections to the policies. The lawsuit presents a familiar free speech controversy in higher education, where conservatives or libertarians are targeted for their views outside of universities, while those on the left are rarely subject to such campaigns. Continue reading “Former Arizona Ethics Professor Sues University for Alleged Termination for Speaking Out Against Gender Policies” →

Constitutional Law, Free Speech

Second DOJ Employee Fired Over Abusive Treatment of Federal Officers

This week, Elizabeth Baxter, an intern with the department’s environmental division, became the second Justice Department employee to be fired by Attorney General Pam Bondi for abusive conduct toward federal officers. Baxter shouted profanities and flipped off a member of the National Guard in Washington, D.C., on her way to work. The termination raises legitimate free speech issues, but Baxter may have crossed the line by recounting the abuse at work. Continue reading “Second DOJ Employee Fired Over Abusive Treatment of Federal Officers” →

Columns, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Politics

Running it up the Flagpole: Why the Trump Order on Flag Burning is Unconstitutional

In the advertising world, there is an old adage that there are times when you take a pitch and “run it up the flagpole and see who salutes.” That expression came to mind yesterday when President Donald Trump signed an order to punish flag burning. The President may be hoping that the Supreme Court might salute and reverse long-standing precedent declaring flag burning to be protected speech under the First Amendment. If so, he is likely to be disappointed. The proposed prosecutions would be unconstitutional and, absent an unlikely major reversal of prior precedent by the Court, flag burning will remain a protected form of free speech. Continue reading “Running it up the Flagpole: Why the Trump Order on Flag Burning is Unconstitutional” →

Free Speech

Oh Canada: Nurse Fights Anti-Free Speech Tribunal Over Transgender Views

For years, we have discussed (e.g., here, here, here, here, here) the crackdown on free speech in Canada, which followed European allies in criminalizing and regulating religious and political speech. The latest example involves Canadian nurse Amy Hamm, who had the temerity of putting up a billboard reading “I (heart) J.K. Rowling.” Despite recent changes in various countries regarding transgender athletes and other policy changes long advocated by Rowling, she remains persona non grata on the left — subjected to liberal blacklisting, book burning, threatened prosecution, cancel campaigns, and boycotts. The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal targeted Hamm. These tribunals have long operated as speech regulators, prosecuting those with opposing viewpoints or values. Continue reading “Oh Canada: Nurse Fights Anti-Free Speech Tribunal Over Transgender Views” →

Academia, Free Speech, Politics

“Adaptive” Learning: Study Shows Almost 90% Adopt More Liberal Views to Satisfy Professors

In my book, “The Indispensable Right,” I write about the intolerance for viewpoint diversity in higher education and the atmosphere of orthodoxy created by overwhelmingly liberal faculties. We have also discussed consistent studies showing that students no longer feel free to express their viewpoints in class or on campuses. A new study offers additional data on this problem, showing that almost 90% of students misrepresent their views in class and on assignments to satisfy faculty by adopting more liberal views. The authors explain that “these students were not cynical, but adaptive.” Faced with the intolerance and rigidity of liberal faculty, they pretend to be liberal to avoid being penalized for their real views or values. In other words, they “quickly learn to rehearse what is safe.”

Continue reading ““Adaptive” Learning: Study Shows Almost 90% Adopt More Liberal Views to Satisfy Professors” →

Bizarre, Columns, Constitutional Law, Free Speech

No Pierogi For You: Dershowitz Denied Food in Martha’s Vineyard Over His Political Views

Harvard Professor Alan Dershowitz appears to be living through a remake of the Seinfeld Soup Nazi episode. However, Dershowitz is facing a new culinary menace in Martha’s Vineyard. Chef Krem Miskevich has barred the famed lawyer from buying pierogis because of his political views . . . and liberals are applauding him for it. Welcome to Pierogi Politics, it is the same distasteful politics that is tearing apart this country . . . only with an added carbo load.

Continue reading “No Pierogi For You: Dershowitz Denied Food in Martha’s Vineyard Over His Political Views” →

Constitutional Law, Courts, Free Speech, Media

Federal Judge Strikes Down California’s Unconstitutional Deepfake Law

I previously criticized the California law, called the Defending Democracy from Deepfake Deception Act of 2024, as flagrantly unconstitutional. Signed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, the law would have gutted free speech protections for political parodies. Now, in Kohls v. Bonta, Senior U.S. District Judge John Mendez has rebuked the state for a law that he concluded had to be rejected in its entirety as flawed to its core: “No parts of this statute are severable because the whole statute is preempted. No parts of A.B. 2655 can be salvaged.” Continue reading “Federal Judge Strikes Down California’s Unconstitutional Deepfake Law” →

Criminal law, Free Speech, International, Politics

Italy Rediscovers National Identity in Fight With EU Court

In my forthcoming book, Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution, I discuss the threat posed by transnational governance, particularly with regard to the European Union. Now, Italy appears to be rediscovering its national identity in a growing fight with the Strasbourg-based European Court of Justice (ECJ). The court just blocked Italy from enforcing its own immigration laws to combat the flood of undocumented persons in the country. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has called the ruling an attack on national sovereignty.

Continue reading “Italy Rediscovers National Identity in Fight With EU Court” →

Academia, Free Speech

North Carolina School District Settles Case After Suspending Teen for Using Term “Illegal Alien”
Christian McGhee, 17, has secured a significant victory for free speech in North Carolina after the Davidson County Board of Education settled a case over his suspension for using the term “illegal alien.” What is disturbing is that, once again, the school officials themselves appear to have escaped any accountability for their abusive treatment of this student.

Continue reading “North Carolina School District Settles Case After Suspending Teen for Using Term “Illegal Alien”” →

Free Speech, Politics

Proposed Russian Law Set to Penalize Individuals for Internet Searches of “Extremist Content”

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

Russia continues its will to control the thoughts and inquiries of citizens. Most recently the State Duma is voting to amend existing legislation to assess an administrative fine against individual internet users “searching for and gaining access to extremist materials.” Predictably the definition of Extremist likely will include anything the state considers objectionable and the targets will likely include its citizenry, not just the content providers or authors.

If adopted, individuals making unlawful internet searches could receive fines between three and five thousand rubles. ($38 to $64). Officials face fines of ten to twenty thousand rubles ($128 to $256) and for legal entities one hundred to two hundred thousand rubles ($1,280 to $2,560).

Continue reading “Proposed Russian Law Set to Penalize Individuals for Internet Searches of “Extremist Content”” →

Res ipsa loquitur – The thing itself speaks