Below is my column in USA Today on a troubling warrant issued by the Justice Department to force the disclosure of visitors to an anti-Trump site. The DisruptJ20 case raises very serious questions regarding political speech and associational rights.
Here is the column:
The California State Senate is considering a bill that would make it a crime to “willfully and repeatedly” refuse “to use a transgender resident’s preferred name or pronouns” in a public health, retirement or housing institution. State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) has introduced SB 219 with a variety of transgender protections but the pronoun controversy is likely to get the most attention. Violators face a year in jail and a potential $1000 fine. The criminalization of pronoun misuse however could raise serious free speech and other constitutional concerns.
I have previously written about how cities and universities are now cancelling conservative speakers in order to protect public safety. I recently discussed this rising rationale for barring speakers, a way for officials to claim that they are still being content neutral while achieving the same result of censoring speakers. The latest such example occurred in Canada at Ryerson University where the school canceled a free speech panel after some groups criticized the appearance of conservative speakers. The school gave them what they demanded in the name of protecting public safety.
Continue reading “Ryerson University Cancels Free Speech Panel As A Threat To Public Safety”
I have been writing for years about the rising wave of intolerance for free speech that has swept over Europe and is now reaching our own shores in the United States. Attacks on free speech are increasing from the left which has cracked down on speech deemed offensive or intimidating to any group. Thus far, the United States has been a bulwark against this trend, but an editorial in the New York Times this week is a chilling example of how voices against free speech are now becoming mainstream. The editorial was written by K-Sue Park is a housing attorney and the Critical Race Studies fellow at the U.C.L.A. School of Law. Park criticizes the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) for what she views as blind fealty to free speech and suggests that it is time to stop defending Nazis because sometimes standing on the wrong side of history in defense of a cause you think is right is still just standing on the wrong side of history. Of course, many of us believe that the wrong side of history is the side where free speech depends on what you want to say — and whether people like Park agree with it.
There is a tragedy unfolding in the Bronx where Luis Moux, 18, a football high school player is facing manslaughter charges. He allegedly choked his mother’s ex-boyfriend to death Monday after discovering his mother’s abusive ex-boyfriend beating her. It is the prototypical heat of passion case and the prosecutor elected to charge for manslaughter rather than a high class of homicide. However, there remains the question of whether he should be convicted for killing the man and whether this might be a case of jury nullification where jurors simply refuse to convict on these facts.
There are now four protesters arrested for the destruction of a roughly century-old statue of a Confederate soldier in North Carolina. The bold act of property destruction was carried out in front of news cameras in broad daylight. As a history nut, it is painful to see old works of art destroyed in this fashion. The arrested include Takiyah Thompson, 22, Dante Strobino, 35, Ngoc Loan Tran, 24, and Peter Gilbert, 39.
Continue reading “Four Arrested In Destruction Of Confederate Statue In North Carolina”
Below is my column in The Hill on the calls for hate crime and terrorism charges against James Fields and possibly others. The response is understandable, but the expansion of these laws raise serious free speech concerns that should be considered before prosecutors move beyond the current murder charge.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi has always displayed a rather fluid view of constitutional rights (though in fairness, that is not a major distinction from other politicians). However, this week Pelosi appeared to embrace content based discrimination in the area of free speech. Pelosi is demanding that the National Park Service reconsider a permit for what she called a “white supremacist rally” in San Francisco. In light of the violence in Charlottesville, Pelosi insists that “The NPS should reevaluate its decision and its capacity to protect the public during such a toxic rally.” The problem is leaving it to the government to declare what groups are toxic from Pelosi’s list of constructive banned viewpoints. I felt ill watching the torch march of neo-Nazis in Charlottesville as white supremacists yelled disgusting anti-Semitic and racist chants. It reminded me of the Nazi rallies before World War II — before my father and so many others went off to fight fascism. However, despite that revulsion, I remain committed to the right of everyone to speak and protest regardless of the content of their views.
A web host called “DreamHost” has gone to court to challenge a demand from the Trump Administration for information on more than 1 million visitors to an anti-Trump website. The demand would covered 1.3 million IP addresses and raises highly troubling free speech and associational concerns. At a minimum, the demand appears wildly too broad and could easily chill political speech for those who oppose this Administration.
I previously was highly critical of President Donald Trump for his reposting a video from his appearance at a professional wrestling bout that was altered to look like he was beating down CNN. With the rising anger and attacks directed at the media, the posting was irresponsible and inflammatory. While I have criticized some in the media for open bias in its attacks on Trump, I have been alarmed by his attacks on the press. Undeterred, Trump again reposted an item this morning that featured a cartoon of CNN being hit by a train. Some people have said that this is outrageous after the car attack in Charlottesville. I think the objection should be directed at the pattern of images of press being beaten or run down by this President. The free press has helped guarantee civil liberties and good government in this country for over two hundred years. Unlike much of the world, we have an independent media that is a constant check on the abuses and corruptions of government. Trump’s open antagonism for the press is alarming and at times reckless.
Continue reading “Train Wreck: Trump Reposts Another Image Attacking CNN”
45 is now at 34. President Donald Trump has hit a new low in popularity according to the Gallup poll. Gallup’s latest poll is 34 percent with a disapproval rate at a staggering 61 percent. Yet, there is no indication of any change in the President’s continued use of Twitter or his unscripted comments like the damaging comments on Venezuela that led Maduro critics to denounce the United States. The concern among GOP members and operatives is that Trump is being given tailored news in a daily positive portfolio. Yet, he is also an avid news watcher so he clearly can see the continued decline in support not just among the public but GOP members.
In Morgan City, Alabama, Jonathan Wright heard from a celestial being that should should change his name to Yahweh. What was skipped in the conversation was a discussion about not doing drugs, or at least not out of your house yards away from a public school. Having said that, Yahweh was not exactly the deity of drug dealers. Police found roughly one pound of marijuana after working for a whole month on the case.
Continue reading “Alabama Police Work One Month To Bust A Guy Named Yahweh With One Pound Of Pot”
We recently discussed the arrest of two Chinese tourists for taking pictures of giving the Nazi salute in Berlin. Now, an American has been arrested for giving the salute in Dresden — after a passerby punched him. The arrests highlight the failed effort of Germans to criminalize certain forms of speech to deter neo-Nazis.
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It appears that the Lawton Chiles Middle Academy in Lakeland, Fla. is teaching its students a bit about living as the one percent. The middle school sent out a fundraising form to parents stating that for a $100 donation a student would be granted a “front of the lunch line pass.” According to ABC Action News, the PTSA promised that the “last name or company logo feature on the website, as well as PTSA events AND front of the lunch line pass.” The ad should be “Name logo sponsorship: $100; PTSA promos: $100; Lording over the unwashed: priceless.”You can imagine the response from parents to what they called “cafeteria classism.”
At a time when President Nicolas Maduro is facing rising opposition (even among his traditional supporters), there is one thing that would materially help him rally supporters: a threat of U.S. military intervention. Now other Latin American countries critical of Maduro in the past have denounced Trump’s comments. It is for that reason that many people were shocked by President Trump’s statement on Friday that he is considering military options in his decision how to respond to Maduro authoritarian policies. For those of us who deeply opposed both Hugo Chavez and his successor Maduro, the statement could not be more disheartening. As noted by the Wall Street Journal, experts believe that Trump gave Maduro exactly what he needed to fulfill his long unsupported narrative of a war with the U.S. As was the case with North Korean comments and the State Department, no one appears more surprised on these comments than the Defense Department.
Continue reading “Trump Declares That Military Options Are Being Considered in Venezuela”