{"id":32642,"date":"2013-02-27T09:58:02","date_gmt":"2013-02-27T16:58:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/02\/27\/free-speech-is-free-speech-like-it-or-not.html"},"modified":"2013-02-27T09:58:02","modified_gmt":"2013-02-27T16:58:02","slug":"free-speech-is-free-speech-like-it-or-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/02\/27\/free-speech-is-free-speech-like-it-or-not.html","title":{"rendered":"Free speech is free speech, like it or not"},"content":{"rendered":"
Though courts have ruled that students' constitutional rights can be somewhat abridged while on campus, and it's a sometimes fuzzy line, generally the burden is on the school to demonstrate the necessity and any restriction must be even-handed (if you're going to allow social or political advocacy speech on t-shirts, then you can't decide which causes to back or not).<\/p>\n

If you're going to have a day at school to raise awareness about\u00a0harassment toward gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, then it's dodgy to try and suppress dissenting political speech about the matter, like a shirt. \u00a0I can see the school's initial reaction, and even possibly applaud the sentiment behind it, but I think it did represent a suppression of political speech.<\/p>\n

This case\u00a0is also worth noting as a demonstration of how the characterization of the ACLU as a "liberal" organization is so often off the mark. \u00a0It's not a liberal (or conservative) organization. It fights for the rights of people of any<\/i> political persuasion or belief to be heard. It's just that, more often than not, it's conservative \/ traditional authorities that have tried to keep a lid on dissenting speech, thus making it seem like the ACLU is just out to fight for liberal causes. They are not, as this case clearly shows.<\/p>\n

Reshared post from +Les Jenkins<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

If speech is free then it must protect unpopular as well as popular speech.\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\n \n <\/div>\n

Connecticut School Backs Down; Permits Anti-Gay Shirt<\/a>
\n The ACLU and the school regard it as free speech.
\nThe lawyer for the school district this month wrote to the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut, saying Wolcott High School student Seth Groody may wear the T-shirt, which bears a slash mark through a rainbow. The other side showed a male and female stick figure holding hands above the message \u201cExcessive Speech Day,\u201d the ACLU of Connecticut said.
\nThe ACLU said Groody wore the shirt April …\n <\/p>\n

View this post on Google+<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Though courts have ruled that students' constitutional rights can be somewhat abridged while on campus, and it's a sometimes fuzzy line, generally the burden is on the school to demonstrate the necessity and any restriction must be even-handed (if you're going to allow social or political advocacy speech on t-shirts, then you can't decide which … Continue reading “Free speech is free speech, like it or not”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":137075,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2018\/09\/07\/because-donald-misses-a-chance-to-be-petty.html","url_meta":{"origin":32642,"position":0},"title":"Because Donald never misses a chance to be petty","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 7-Sep-18 4:16pm","format":false,"excerpt":"On the bright side, he sounds more like a snotty twelve-year-old than the usual fractious nine-year-old. President Donald Trump claims he fell asleep watching former President Barack Obama\u2019s speech about the current political climate. Trump says: \u201cI\u2019m sorry, I watched it, but I fell asleep.\u201d He adds, \u201cI found he\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Trump-and-Rick-Scott.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":134986,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/10\/07\/political-speech-cannot-compelled-state.html","url_meta":{"origin":32642,"position":1},"title":"Political speech cannot be compelled by the state","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 7-Oct-17 5:44pm","format":false,"excerpt":"And that includes some publc school districts levying punishment to student athletes who take a knee during the national anthem. You cannot force someone by law or other threat of state punishment to express (or not express) political sentiment. That includes patriotic displays. It would be as wrong (and illegal)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/unnamed-6.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":128156,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/09\/25\/when-liberty-becomes-libertine.html","url_meta":{"origin":32642,"position":2},"title":"When Liberty Becomes Libertine","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 25-Sep-15 4:00pm","format":false,"excerpt":"In recent years we've seen \"religious freedom\" as the basis for court claims about people wanting to, in fact, discriminate and use their religious beliefs to hurt other people. \"If you stop me from doing something that my religion tells me I should do, then you're harshing my religious liberty\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":133976,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/07\/27\/the-boy-scouts-of-america-apologizes-for-trumps-jamboree-speech.html","url_meta":{"origin":32642,"position":3},"title":"The Boy Scouts of America apologizes for Trump's jamboree speech","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 27-Jul-17 5:11pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Trump's speech at the BSA Jamboree rambled all over the place, often getting deep into political and social issues that don't really line up with the Boy Scout Law or Oath [1]. 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