The Rodriguez decision arose in a public community college, and it stressed the importance of academic freedom. But I think it would also be relevant to Title VII lawsuits based on speech in non-academic workplaces, and in private workplaces (though not to individually directed insults or sexual propositions). Here let me talk about the private […]
Archive | Freedom of Speech
“Free Speech Has Been a Powerful Force for the Spread of Equality Under the Law”;
By Eugene Volokh on May 20, 2010 4:06 pm in "Hate Speech", Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities
“we must not squelch that freedom because it may also be harnessed by those who promote retrograde or unattractive ways of thought.” So writes the Ninth Circuit in today’s Rodriguez opinion, in an important holding about the interaction of the First and Fourteenth Amendments. I’ve written before against arguments that First Amendment rights need to […]
Freedom of Speech vs. Workplace Harassment Law — A Big Free Speech Win in the Ninth Circuit
By Eugene Volokh on May 20, 2010 3:44 pm in "Hate Speech", Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities
I’ve long written about how workplace harassment law sometimes violates the First Amendment, so I was especially pleased to see today’s Rodriguez v. Maricopa County Community College Dist. (9th Cir.) (written by Chief Judge Kozinski, and joined by retired Justice O’Connor, sitting by designation, and Judge Sandra Ikuta). The entire opinion is much worth reading, […]
Interesting Free Speech Question:
Ari David, who’s running for Congress against long-time incumbent Henry Waxman, raises an interesting and troubling free speech issue on his blog here. Apparently (taking everything he says to be factually correct) he hired some folks to create an iPhone app with text (not surprisingly) highly critical of Waxman — e.g., “HENRY WAXMAN… SUPPORTED Cap […]
The OAS Firearms Convention Is Incompatible with American Liberties
By David Kopel on May 19, 2010 12:47 pm in Freedom of Speech, Guns, International Law, Registration, Regulation
Just published on-line this morning is the above Backgrounder from the Heritage Foundation. My coauthors are Theodore Bromund and Ray Walser, of Heritage. We argue that the CIFTA gun control convention, which was drafted by the Organization of American States, and which President Obama has urged the Senate to ratify, would harm First and Second […]
Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett Subpoenas Identity of His Critics, for a Criminal Probe
TechCrunch reports on this subpoena issued to Twitter, seeking the identity of two twitterers that had apparently been critical of Corbett. The striking thing is that this is a subpoena to provide evidence in a criminal investigation. If it had been a subpoena related to a civil libel lawsuit, then either Twitter or the anonymous […]
Another Call for Governmental Suppression of Speech Offensive to Religious Sensibilities
By Eugene Volokh on May 18, 2010 11:56 am in Freedom of Speech, Religion and the Law, Religious Freedom
The Georgian Times (fortunately, that’s not our Georgia) reports that the Georgian Orthodox Patriarchate is calling for a law that would protect “religious feelings,” and arguing that “[f]reedom of speech doesn’t mean right to provoke discord and confrontation, abuse church, religious feelings and belittle state symbols.” The call seems to have been prompted by a […]
Prosecution for Insulting Religion — This Time, Buddhism
By Eugene Volokh on May 17, 2010 12:25 pm in Blasphemy, Freedom of Speech, Religion and the Law, Religious Freedom
InfoLanka.com reported in late March: Sarah Malanie Perera [was] detained in the [Sri Lankan] capital Colombo for allegedly offending the spiritual leader of Buddhism …. [I]t is understood two of her recently published books offended ethnic Sinhalese Buddhists, who account for about 70 per cent of Sri Lanka’s 20 million population…. The 38-year-old, who previously […]
The Battle for the Internet:
Bernard Kouchner, the Foreign Minister of France and a founder of Doctors Without Borders, has an interesting but somewhat unsettling op-ed in today’s New York Times. Entitled “The Battle for the Internet,” it’s a call to arms in the battle of ideas . . . between the advocates of a universal and open Internet — […]
Virginia Circuit Court Opinion Issues Preliminary Injunction Shutting Down a Web Site, Reverses Itself the Next Day
I just noticed this decision, from a few weeks ago — Burfoot v. May4thCounts.com (Va. Cir. Ct. Apr. 22) (Poston, J.): Today the Court sua sponte vacates the Order of April 21, 2010. In that Order the Court granted plaintiffs Motion for Entry of a Temporary Injunction prohibiting the defendants from using a website entitled […]
Louisiana Parish Government Suing Online Commenters for Libel
Yup — not just a particular government official, but Jefferson Parish itself is claiming that some anonymous commenters are spreading lies about the Parish (the Louisiana equivalent of a county) that damage the reputation of the Parish. It’s not clear to me from the story exactly what the comments about the co-plaintiff, Steve Theriot (Interim […]
Speech Restrictions Aimed at Making Sure People Act in “Right-Thinking” Ways
The comment thread in my “down the memory hole” speech restrictions post reminded me of what I wrote ten years ago about the California Supreme Court’s 1971 decision in Briscoe v. Reader’s Digest (which has since been overruled, based on intervening Supreme Court First Amendment precedent). Here’s my criticism of Briscoe (some paragraph breaks added, […]
“Down the Memory Hole” Speech Restrictions, Supported by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)
In an amicus brief EPIC just filed in G.D. v. Kenny — a case pending before the New Jersey Supreme Court — EPIC argues that convicted criminals should be able to sue for “disclosure of private facts” when others accurately report on the criminal conviction, so long as the state court system decided to retroactively […]
Support for Restricting the Speech of Students Who Wear American Flags to School on Cinco de Mayo
According to a local CBS TV station, About 85 mostly Hispanic students staged a noon protest march through Morgan Hill on Thursday, one day after five students at Live Oak High School were sent home after showing up in clothing with American flags on Cinco de Mayo. The protesters supported the school’s decision …. Kathleen […]
New Hampshire State Constitutional Journalist’s Privilege Applies to Web Sites
So holds yesterday’s New Hampshire Supreme Court decision in Mortgage Specialists, Inc. v. Implode-Explode Heavy Industries: Although our cases discussing the newsgathering privilege have involved traditional news media, such as newspapers, we reject Mortgage Specialists’ contention that the newsgathering privilege is inapplicable here because Implode is neither an established media entity nor engaged in investigative […]