The California Senate yesterday passed legislation that would delete membership in the Communist party as a reason for firing a public employee, a Cold War-era prohibition intended to root out communists.<\/p>\n
Democratic Senator Alan Lowenthal called communism a “failed system,” and said his bill – Senate Bill 1322 – was intended to protect “the constitutional freedoms that we have fought so valiantly for,” including freedom of political affiliation.<\/p>\n
California is the only state that allows public employees to be dismissed for membership in a political party.<\/p>\n
In addition, current law requires that any organisation that applies to use a public school facility can be asked to sign a statement that “the applicant is not a communist action organisation or a communist front”.<\/p>\n
“SB 1322 seeks to protect the rights of free speech and political affiliation by repealing the no-longer necessary statute from the books,” Lowenthal said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Not that I’m any great fan of communism, but I never fail to be amazed the extent to which we were willing to abridge civil rights in order to protect them, restrict freedom in order to preserve it, and abridge the American Way in order to fight for it. Sometimes, in some ways, that might be necessary — but rarely to the knee-jerk extent that we seem willing to do all too often.<\/p>\n
\nThe legislation, which will now be considered by the assembly, was approved on a 24-15 vote, with Democrats in support and Republicans opposed. Republican senator Jeff Denham warned: “the Communist party is not a dead organisation … and [is] actively repressing human beings in Cuba and China in brutal ways.<\/p>\n
“The state has every right to hold school employees accountable for their political standing, especially if that employee belongs to an organisation that favours the violent overthrow of the government,” Denham said during the debate on the bill.<\/p>\n
Denham said that it’s also “reasonable that use of public school property should be limited to groups who support our democracy and do not advocate the overthrow of government by force, violence or other possible means.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Though the bill does, in fact, still allow firing for activities to overthrow the government.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I had no idea this sort of thing was till on the books anywhere — or, at lesat, was. 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