The Irish Constitution expressly prohibits blasphemy; the Irish Constitutional Convention has just voted to recommend a referendum on replacing this provision with a ban on “incitement to religious hatred,” though delegates were split on whether there should be a statutory blasphemy ban as well: Voting yesterday on whether the offence of blasphemy should be kept […]
Archive | “Hate Speech”
Question for Supporters of the Boycott of Ender’s Game
If you think people should boycott the movie Ender’s Game (discussed by co-blogger Dale here) because of Orson Scott Card’s anti-gay marriage remarks, do you also think that people back in the 1940s and 50s were justified in threatening to boycott movies if Hollywood employed Communists as screenwriters? Do you the studios were justified in […]
Joseph Goebbels’ Early Novel Banned by Russian Authorities as “Extremist” Material
So reports Lenta.ru; the book is a Russian translation of Michael (1929). According to RIA Novosti, Russian authorities launched an extremism investigation last month after reports that the novel was being sold in several Moscow bookstores, along with Benito Mussolini’s “The Third Way.” Both books were published and distributed to stores by the Algoritm publishing […]
It’s a Crime to Say This About Muslim Men in Denmark
According to the Copenhagen Post (Sept. 18, 2013), Danish-Iranian artist Firoozeh Bazrafkan was convicted under “anti-racism legislation” for posting this blog entry on a newspaper Web site, quoting and endorsing an earlier statement by Lars Kragh Andersen: I am very convinced that Muslim men around the world rape, abuse and kill their daughters. This is, […]
Could Doctors’ Public Condemnation of Homosexuality Lead to Medical Board Investigation of Doctors?
Yes, say 60% of the state medical boards respondents surveyed in Greysen et al., Online Professionalism Investigations by State Medical Boards: First, Do No Harm, 158(2) Ann Intern Med. 124-30 (2013). Here’s the vignette that was given in the survey: Discriminatory Speech Online A concerned staff member at a local hospital reports discriminatory language on […]
Order Barring Defendant from “Us[ing] Terms Such as ‘Nigger,’ While in Earshot of” a Neighbor, Reversed on Appeal
Lloyd v. Hardesty (Cal. Ct. App. May 31, 2013) (nonprecedential); for more on the factual backstory, see an earlier opinion in the case: The trial court entered a … restraining order prohibiting Wax from harassing Lloyd or her daughter. In particular, the court’s order provided that “(1) Wax ‘shall not make direct contact with [] […]
Greek Bill That Would Outlaw “Approving or Belittling the Seriousness of Nazi Crimes, the Jewish Holocaust, and Other Genocides”
The Jerusalem Post reports that the Greek Prime Minister and his party no longer oppose this bill, which I take it makes it much more likely that it will get enacted. The bill seems to be an attempt to go after the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, but — unsurprisingly when it comes to such speech […]
Wales Police Order Removal of “Obey Our Laws / Respect Our Beliefs / Or Get Out of Our Country” T-Shirt
So reports the South Wales Argus (thanks to Prof. Bill Poser for the link): A NEWPORT shopkeeper has been forced by police to remove a T-shirt from his shop window because they felt it “could be seen to be inciting racial hatred.” Matthew Taylor, 35, the owner of Taylor’s clothes store on Emlyn Walk in […]
The U.S. Attorney and Chief FBI Special Agent “Will Provide Input on How Civil Rights Can Be Violated by Those Who Post Inflammatory Documents Targeted at Muslims on Social Media”
So reports The Tullahoma News (Tennessee), in an article that has been heavily linked to and quoted in recent days: A special meeting has been scheduled [for June 4] for the stated purpose of increasing awareness and understanding that American Muslims are not the terrorists some have made them out to be in social media […]
English Police: “People Should Stop and Think About What They Say on Social Media Before Making Statements as the Consequences Could Be Serious”
From the Mirror (UK): A 22-year-old man has been charged on suspicion of making malicious comments on Facebook following the [brutal public murder by jihadists -EV] of British soldier Lee Rigby. Benjamin Flatters, of Lincoln, was arrested last night [and charged] after complaints were made to Lincolnshire Police about comments made on Facebook, which were […]
Law Student Arrested, Chiefly for Anti-Semitic and Racist E-Mail to Student Government (and for Offensive Posts About Professors)
Here are the relevant details from the affidavit in support of the arrest warrant: That, on February 25, 2013 at about 0855 an email was sent to the Student Bar Association (SBA) email account, (SBAIULAWSTUDENT@uconn.edu) which is located on the University of Connecticut School of Law, at 45 Elizabeth Street, Hartford, CT, from the account […]
“Racist Hate Speech” Conviction in Belgium for Tearing up Koran in Front of a Group of Muslims
Dr. Jogchum Vrielink (coordinator of the Centre for Discrimination Law at the University of Leuven, Belgium) passes this along: In Belgium a man was convicted for ‘racist hate speech’ because he publicly tore up a Koran, before the eyes of a group of Muslims. The case illustrates the need to protect free speech against those […]
U.N. Committee Says: This Speech Must Lead to a Criminal Prosecution of the Speaker
The German government decided not to prosecute the speaker based on this speech, but the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has recently stated the contrary, TBB v. Germany (Feb. 26, 2013). Here’s the speech that, according to the Committee, must lead to a criminal prosecution in countries that have ratified the International […]
Philadelphia Mayor Suggests Magazine Article on Race Relations Isn’t Protected by the First Amendment
Philadelphia magazine published an article called Being White in Philly, with the subtitle, “Whites, race, class, and the things that never get said.” Apparently the Mayor of Philadelphia, Michael Nutter, thinks there’s not even a constitutional right to say those things; in a letter to the Philadelphia Human Relations Commission, the mayor argues, While I […]
Canadian Supreme Court Upholds Prohibitions on Speech that “Tends to Expose” Groups “to Hatred” Based on Their Sexual Orientation
I haven’t posted much in the last few days, because I’ve been working on yet another cert petition. (“[T]he burnt Fool’s bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire.”) But I thought I’d pass along a link to a post on this subject by Prof. Howard Friedman (Religion Clause).