August 21, 2008, - 2:49 pm
1st Amendment PC Double Standard Continues: Free Speech for Me, But Not for Thee
By Debbie Schlussel
A couple of court rulings from around the country show us who really enjoys free speech in America: the left and Muslims. Anybody who isn’t PC, well your Bill of Rights starts at Amendment #2 (or maybe 3, given the way things are going).
If you wanna sell anti-War t-shirts (and use the names of war dead without their permission or license), your speech is protected. But wear a t-shirt with the Confederate flag on it, fuhgedaboutit. Them’s “fightin’ words.”
Anti-war Ts, Si!:
A federal judge on Wednesday permanently blocked state and local officials from prosecuting a Flagstaff man who produces and sells anti-war T-shirts with the names of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq.
U.S. District Judge Neil Wake said the shirts are “core political speech fully protected by the First Amendment.”
Wake acknowledged that Dan Frazier sells the shirts. But he said the fact an item is sold rather than given away does not strip it of its constitutional protections.
Confederate clothing, Hell No!:
A federal appeals court panel ruled Wednesday in favor of a Tennessee school system that banned the Confederate battle flag because of concerns the symbol could inflame racial tensions at a high school.
Students Derek Barr, Chris White, Roger Craig White and their parents said in a lawsuit their free speech rights were violated by the 2005 flag ban at William Blount High School in Maryville, about 15 miles south of Knoxville.
School officials said the ban came after previous race-related incidents that included a racial slur, a fight, a civil rights complaint, a lockdown and graffiti depicting a Confederate flag and a noose.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals pointed to those incidents in ruling that school officials had a right to ban the flag because they could “reasonably forecast” that it would cause disruption.
“The school did not merely find the Confederate flag offensive to some students but rather found that in a context of high racial tensions, race-related altercations, and threats of violence, the flag would disrupt the school’s educational process,” said the opinion that was filed in Cincinnati.
Oh, I get it:
If your political speech makes minorities upset, then it’s not protected. But if it offends conservatives, soldiers, families of soldiers, etc., then it’s A-OK.
Hmm . . . I wonder how the courts would rule on a swastika t-shirt in the schools. Let me guess: Protected political speech unlikely to stir problems.
So, to sum up, this speech is protected by the First Amendment:
This is NOT:
Looks like the First Amendment has been Amended.
First Amendment for Me, But Not For Thee.
Exactly! And Debbie – if you were a doctor in California and your religious beliefs forbade you from inseminating lesbians, fudgetaboutit! The California Supreme Court ruled your obligation to serve your patients overrides your right to exercise your religious conscience.
NormanF on August 21, 2008 at 4:36 pm