Soeren Kern (Hudson New York) reports: An Austrian appellate court has upheld the conviction of Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff, a Viennese housewife and anti-Jihad activist, for “denigrating religious beliefs” after giving a series of seminars about the dangers of radical Islam. The December 20 ruling shows that while Judaism and Christianity can be disparaged with impunity in […]
Archive | “Hate Speech”
Now There’s a Harassment Claim That Was Quite Rightly Rejected
From Walker v. Jackson (EEOC Oct. 6, 2011): On December 1, 2011 [sic], Complainant filed a formal EEO complaint alleging that he was subjected to harassment and reprisal on the basis of his religious beliefs (Pentecostal). Briefly, the complaint alleged that, on November 18, 2010 [sic], Complainant was the recipient of an email from the […]
Anti-Gay Statements About Fellow Building Resident = Liability for “Hostile Housing Environment Harassment”
That’s what seems to be the holding of Gilbert v. 7355 South Shore Condominium Ass’n & Shelley Norton (Chi. Com. Hum. Rel’s July 20, 2011), leading to damages of $2100, fines of $1200, and “reasonable attorney fees and associated costs,” which I suspect are likely to be in the tens of thousands of dollars. The […]
“Islam Is of the Devil” T-Shirts in Junior High School and High School
Sapp v. School Board of Alachua County (N.D. Fla. Sept, 30, 2011), which was just made available on Westlaw today, holds that (1) a public school properly restricted the wearing of “Islam is of the Devil” T-shirts because they led to substantial disruption, and (2) the school’s broader policy banning “clothing or accessories that … […]
D.C. Council Considering Requiring Speech Code in City Parks and the University of District Columbia
By Eugene Volokh on October 31, 2011 3:18 pm in "Hate Speech", Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities, Freedom of Speech at K-12 Schools
The proposed law would mandate that public and charter schools, city parks, city libraries, and the University of District Columbia ban any gesture or written, verbal or physical act, including electronic communication, that is reasonably perceived as being motivated either by any actual or perceived characteristic, such as race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, […]
Pro-Violence Political Groups’ “Negligent Selection” Liability for Criminal Actions by Members Engaged in Group Activities
Edwards v. Gruver (Ky. Ct. App. Oct. 14, 2011) (2-1 vote) involves an especially vile group — a KKK organization. But the principle potentially extends considerably more broadly, to justify imposing massive liability on a wide range of political groups whose ideologies in some situations encourage violence, and whose members indeed act violently while advocating […]
Complaint Against Religiously Themed Residential Drug-and-Alcohol Recovery Program: “The Respondent … Teaches Against Homosexuality”
That’s part of the Louisville Human Relations Commission complaint filed by the Lexington Fair Housing Council (a local nonprofit) last year against Teen Challenge; the nonprofit also alleged that Teen Challenge discriminates based on sexual orientation in housing. The full allegation: The Respondent provides housing in Lexington, Kentucky that is open to individuals of all […]
Illegal Article About Aborigines by Australian Journalist
An Australian court just held today, in Eatock v. Bolt, that Australian journalist Andrew Bolt and the newspaper The Herald and Weekly Times violated the law by publishing newspaper articles arguing that fair-skinned Australians “with some Aboriginal descent” “are not genuinely Aboriginal persons but … motivated by career opportunities available to Aboriginal people or by […]
English Cafe Owner Threatened with Arrest for Display Anti-Gay Bible Verses?
The Mail Online reports: Police have threatened a Christian cafe owner with arrest –- for displaying passages from the Bible on a TV screen…. The Salt and Light cafe in Blackpool has for years repeatedly played the entire 26-hour-long Watchword Bible, a 15-DVD set produced in America in which a narrator reads the whole of […]
Pakistan Court Temporarily Blocks Facebook on the Grounds That It “Spread[s] Religious Hatred”
So reports Pakistan Today: The Lahore High Court Justice Sh Azmat Saeed on Monday ordered ministry of information and technology to block access to all websites in Pakistan especially American social networking website “Facebook”, spreading religious hatred on internet and to submit a compliance report by October 6. The judge, however, made it clear that […]
Is Publishing a List of Famous Jews a Crime in France?
JTA reports: A made-in-France iPhone app called “Jew or Not Jew?” was removed from the French app store, its creator, Johann Levy, told JTA…. French Jewish and human rights groups argued that the application, which came out in early August and allows users to guess whether public personalities are Jewish or not, violates French law […]
German Appeals Court Upholds Conviction for Holocaust Denial
Deutsche Welle reports that the appeals court upheld the conviction, though lowered the fine (to $9,230) based on the defendant’s income: Williamson had been convicted for inciting hatred, an offense which, under German law, incorporates any claim that the Holocaust did not happen. Williamson was in Germany when he told an interviewer for a Swedish […]
“Harassment” Prosecution for Anti-Gay Speech About a Political Candidate?
[UPDATE, July 15, 2011: I’ve just gotten and posted a copy of the criminal complaint, which is consistent with the story quoted below. Note that the complaint does refer to the candidate as the “victim,” which suggests that the objection is to the supposed annoyance to the opposing candidate, not to the recipients of the […]
English Translation of the Geert Wilders Decision
The official translation is here; thanks to commenter martinned for the pointer.
Geert Wilders Acquitted
From de Rechtspraak, the website of the Dutch Judiciary and the Supreme Court of the Netherlands: Verdict of the Amsterdam district court as regards the Wilders trial, 23 June 2011 Amsterdam, 23 June 2011 – Hereafter, the most important decisions of the district court are summarized. For the integral text, please go to www.rechtspraak.nl … […]