Mediaboss Marketing

On the same day the president of Northwestern University told the Wall Street Journal it was sometimes appropriate to restrict speech on campus, disruptive students prevented an in-class speech by an official from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

An ICE spokeswoman was scheduled to talk to a Northwestern sociology class on Tuesdayone half of a two-part lesson, now cancelled, that would have also included a speech by an undocumented immigrant.

Protestors initially stood outside the classroom chanting F**k ICE. They were then admitted to the classroom, where they interrupted the talk and aggressively confronted both the ICE representative and the professor who had invited her, the student newspaper reported. The ICE officer left without completing her speech.

That same day, the Wall Street Journal published an interview with Northwesterns president, Morton Schapiro, where he defended safe spaces and said that offensive speech targeting specific individuals or groups might, in some circumstances, be considered assault, not free speech.

You want to protect the First Amendment, obviously, but it isnt absolute, Schapiro said. People reduce it to slogans or free speech at all costs.

Schapiro also said: I will just say that if you shut down freedom of speech, you better have a really good reason. I think if you shut down anything, you better be really sure that you have a moral and legal justification to do it. Thats my view.

The protestors came from MEChA, a campus Chicano group; Black Lives Matter, the Immigrant Justice Project, the Asian American Pacific Coalition and various LGBT campus groups, the Daily Northwestern reported.

On Facebook, MEChA defended shutting down the ICE officials talk:

Dialogue with any ICE official legitimizes their position as state actors of violence.The presence of an ICE PR agent whose sole purpose is to make ICE look good and recruit students implies university complicity and encouragement of the actions of this organization. We do not engage in conversations with ICE in any way, shape or form regardless of their position.

Citing security and privacy concerns, Beth Redbird, the professor who invited the ICE official to speak, said she had cancelled a scheduled talk by an undocumented immigrant. Her class focuses on inequality in American society with an emphasis on race, class and gender.

In a discussion with students, Redbird defended her decision to invite the ICE representative, the Daily Northwestern reported. All they did was come here today to answer questions so you know whats going on, so that you are informed and so you can make decisions. If you want to make change in a community, you need to know whats going on, she said.

In a jointstatement, Schapiro and Northwesterns provost said they were deeply disappointed in students disrespectful, inappropriate behavior Tuesday.

While we understand the point of view expressed by the students protesting the guest lecturers invited to speak here, the resulting disturbance not only limited the academic inquiry central to our campus, it also forced invited speakers to leave and violated the rights of other enrolled students who were present to learn. Free expression must be protected and should be countered with more debate, close examination and critical thinkingnot censorship, their statement said.

The university also said it was reviewing the facts around the protests so it could take appropriate action.

Earlier this week, the Northwestern chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine hosted Rasmea Odeh, a woman convicted for a terrorist attack; her group, the PopularFront for the Liberation of Palestine had planted a bomb in a box of candy, which killed two college studentswhen it detonated agrocery storein Jerusalem.Pro-Israel groups on campuscondemned the event as an affront to the sanctity of life, saying it crosses a moral line.

In a statement, Northwestern Hillel announced it would hold a silent vigil for Odehs victims outside of the venue. This will be a silent, non-confrontational vigil, the group said. We will not attempt to disrupt the event in any way.Our goal is not to protest free speech, but instead to mourn the victims ofthe convicted terrorist who is speaking on our campus.

Schapiro joined about 150 students, professors and staffers who attended the vigil.

Jillian Kay Melchior writes for Heat Street and is a fellow for the Steamboat Institute and the Independent Womens Forum.

Read this article:
Northwestern Students Shut Down Speech as President Says First Amendment 'Not Absolute' - Heat Street

Inside Higher Ed

Critics of proposed legislation on First Amendment rights at Wisconsin public universities say it goes too far Inside Higher Ed He also praised a new free speech law in Tennessee that's been lauded by FIRE and other groups for strengthening the First Amendment on campuses without requiring punishments for disrupters. The bill abolishes designated free speech zones for ... Is free speech fading at colleges? - Chicago Law BulletinChicago Daily Law Bulletin Freedom of Speech Attacked, Defended During Public Hearing ...MacIverInstitute all 5 news articles »

Here is the original post:
Critics of proposed legislation on First Amendment rights at Wisconsin public universities say it goes too far - Inside Higher Ed

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (NEWSPLEX) -- The First Amendment, at its core, protects all forms of speech. That includes hate speech.

So while people are taking issue with the rallies this weekend in Charlottesville over the Robert E. Lee Statue, under the First Amendment, those rallies are protected even from city permits.

"Under the First Amendment, free speech is free," explained John Whitehead from The Rutherford Institute.

Whitehead said the creation of the First Amendment was to empower people to speak up, and protect people from their own government.

"The government cannot target one specific group or several groups and say 'You don't have the right to speech because we don't agree,'" he said.

According to Whitehead, even though certain forms of speech make people uncomfortable like hate speech, it is still protected by the Constitution.

"You can say 'I hate this. I hate that. I don't like these people.' Whatever, but that's protected," Whitehead said.

The reason for allowing hate speech, explained Whitehead, is because that type of speech can actually drive a conversation about an issue.

"If I say something to you that really offends you out there listening to this program, it makes you think. It makes you want to debate. And that's what the founding fathers wanted," he said. "They wanted a debate."

However, Charlottesville city code states people should get permits for large gatherings like Saturday's alt-right rally in Lee Park.

"People are suppose to get permits when they do these things on public property," said City Councilor Bob Fenwick. "No permit was applied for. It was an ambush, a sneak attack. It was one of the dumbest things I have seen in my life."

Regardless, the First Amendment lets demonstrators hold rallies without getting the proper permission from localities.

"While we prefer protesters get permits like any other event, such assemblies are protected by the First Amendment and we do not interfere unless we perceive a legal or safety issue," added a Charlottesville city spokesperson.

But there is a point at which the First Amendment stops protecting speech.

"If you're advocating violence, that's where it stops," said Whitehead. "In other words, you're saying 'Lets go out, blow them up, lets shoot them, kill them,' That's no longer protected under the law."

Reflecting on the rallies over the weekend, Whitehead said people who did not like what they saw should speak up and express their opinions. He said that is why the First Amendment was created.

Originally posted here:
Weekend rallies protected by First Amendment, including torch burning - The Charlottesville Newsplex

FrontPage Magazine

The Top 10 College Administrations Most Friendly to Terrorists and Hostile to the First Amendment FrontPage Magazine Over the past two weeks, the David Horowitz Freedom Center has named 10 prestigious college and university campuses to its list of the Top 10 College Administrations Most Friendly to Terrorists and Hostile to the First Amendment. These campuses ... and more »

See the rest here:
The Top 10 College Administrations Most Friendly to Terrorists and Hostile to the First Amendment - FrontPage Magazine

Blogs | May. 13, 2017

Unjust discrimination against individuals who identify as LGBT is a real problem. So is eroding religious freedom but in some cases another First Amendment right may be even more relevant.

Yesterday the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty released a statement announcingthat a Christian business owner finally won a case brought against him by gay plaintiffs alleging a civil rights violation:

A Kentucky court championed free speech today, ruling that the government cannot force t-shirt printer Blaine Adamson to create gay-pride t-shirts in violation of his religious beliefs. The court agreed with Becket, top legal scholars, and LGBT business owners, who all stood up for the rights of artists to choose what messages they would promote, without fear of government punishment. Todaysruling emphasizedthat the service [the printer] offers is the promotion of messages. The conduct [the printer] chose not to promote was pure speech.

Adamson is the owner of Hands On Originals, a small print shop in Lexington, Kentucky. Adamson regularly employs and serves LGBT individuals, and serves everyone regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation. He also cares deeply about the messages he promotes. Just as pro-choice printers have declined to print pro-life messages, and LGBT printers have declined to print anti-gay messages, Adamson does not print messages that violate his beliefs. Following common printing industry practice, he only creates messages that align with his views, and has declined to create t-shirts promoting strip clubs, violence, and sexually explicit videos. Thats why LGBT business ownersstood upfor Mr. Adamsons right to choose the messages he promotes.

It doesnt matter what the speech is pro-gay, anti-gay, pro-immigration, anti-immigration the government cant force you to print it, saidLuke Goodrich, deputy general counsel at Becket, a non-profit religious liberty law firm.Thats the beauty of free speech: It protects everyone.

This seems to me an important case that may have implications for the wedding-industry wars.

So far as I know, Christian wedding industry professionals photographers, cake decorators and caterers have always lost in court for declining to provide services to same-sex weddings.

While I dont know a lot about the legal reasoning in those cases, whenever I see Christians discussing such casesthe issue seems to be framed as a question of the First Amendment right of religious freedom. I wonder this isnt a mistake.

As the Hands On Originals T-shirt print shops successful defense illustrates, religious freedom may thewrong First Amendment right at least in the case of photographers and cake decorators. (Caterers are probablyout of luck, at least as regards this line of thought.)

The strongestFirst Amendment defense for wedding photographers and cake decorators, I suspect, is not religious freedom, but freedom of speech.

Wedding photography is a service, but photography is also patently an art form, a form of communication. For the purposes of First Amendment constitutional law, it is a form of speech and speech, in First Amendment constitutional law, with very few exceptions, can be neither suppressed nor compelled.

An important caveat: Freedom of speech does not negate the principles of public accommodation and antidiscrimination law, which I support. I do not take the laissez-faire libertarian view that any business should have the right to refuse to transact with any potential customer or employee for any reason.

For instance, I dont believe that restauranteurs who are racists should have the right to refuse service to patrons of color or to relegate them to a separate counter, for instance. Nor do I support Christian business owners (or Muslims or Jews) with traditional beliefs about sexual morality refusing to serve individuals who identify as LBGT.

In saying this, Im going somewhat beyond federal antidiscrimination law, which prohibits discrimination against protected groups defined by race, color, religion, national origin, and disability, but does not protect individuals singled out for their sex or sexual orientation. (Discrimination based on sex and sexual orientation is prohibited in many areas at the state and local level.)

When it comes to discrimination and bigotry based on sexual orientation, both sides typically claim too much and concede too little. Christians should be willing to recognize and concede that while terms like hate and homophobia are overused to stigmatize all disapproval of homosexual acts, hatred and unjust hostility toward LBGT-identifying individuals is a real and important problem a problem too often found among individuals wrapping themselves in the mantle of traditional morality and traditional marriage.

To adhere to and to profess traditional Christian sexual morality, including the belief that homosexual acts are morally wrong, is not hate or bigotry,but hatred and bigotry are very much alive and well among those who profess to adhere to traditional Christian sexual morality.

The Catholic faith tells us that homosexual attraction and homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered, but it also tells us that same-sex attracted persons must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2358).

The Catechism wouldnt bother to say this unless such individuals had often not been accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity and had often been treated with unjust discrimination.

When Christians meet with hostility and anger from LBGT individuals and their defenders, therefore, it behooves us to understand that behind that hostility and anger may often be painful experiences of mistreatment, rejection, stigma, ostracism and more. When this occurs in the Church, and still more when it involves the clergy, it can be even more devastating.

In view of this difficult reality, I believe Christians have a particular duty to oppose homophobia and gay-bashing in their own ranks and to stand up for dignity and respect for all human beings, including and even especially individuals who identify as LBGT.

We should also recognize that it is understandable for the state to take an interest in protecting LBGT individuals from unjust discrimination for holding, for instance, that peoples sexual self-identification or lifestyle, along with their race, color, religion and so on, is not grounds for refusing to serve them a meal at a restaurant, or for denying them other services at public accommodations.

Among other things, this would mean that a store that sells T-shirts cannot (and I would add should not) refuse to sell T-shirts to anyone because of their race or ethnicity, religion, sex, gender identification or lifestyle. A racist cannot refuse to sell to people of color, an atheist or a gay activist cannot refuse to sell to conservative Christians, and a Christian cannot refuse to sell to sell to atheists or gays.

By the same token, a T-shirt printer who printed a particular design or message for one customer should be willing to print the same design or message for a customer whose lifestyle he disapproves of.

In the case reported by the Becket Fund, though, another principle comes into play: free speech.

The Hands On Originals case highlights that not every kind of service in the public square is equivalent to buying a meal at a restaurant. Some types of services involve a form of artistic expression or speech that is protected under the First Amendment and these protections protect us all.

Free speech means a pro-choice graphic designer or commercial artist cannot be forced to print pro-life materials, nor can a pro-life graphic designer or commercial artist be forced to print pro-choice materials. A gay Web developer cannot be forced to create a website for a conservative Christian group, nor can a Christian Web developer be forced to create a website for a gay group.

This is a principle well understood and appreciated by the LGBT business owners cited in the Becket Fund press release, who supported Hands On Originals right to refuse to print pro-gay materials. All sides and all parties to this discussion should recognize the wisdom of Thomas Mores line in A Man For All Seasons about giving even the Devil benefit of law for my own safetys sake. (N.b. Like More, Im merely illustrating a principle, not comparing anyone to the Devil!)

Because photography is patently a form of artistic expression, Im troubled that the courts not so far found that a wedding photographer, or any other wedding industry professional other than clergy,has the right to decline to provide services for a same-sex wedding. Could this be because such cases have generally been predicated on religious freedom rather than free speech? I dont know, but I wonder.

I believe the principle that speech should be neither repressed nor compelled is so important that I would even defend the right of a white supremacist photographer not to photograph an interracial wedding. His views are despicable so despicable that I would want nothing to do with patronizing such a photographer, whether or not he had a problem with me but photography is speech, and speech should not be compelled.

The same considerations seem to me to apply to cake decorators, at least where the cake involves any kind of messaging, even figures of two grooms or two brides on the top. Im not talking about refusing to sell a cake to an LGBT person or couple, but to decorating the cake with a specific message.

I dont believe this principle should be controversial, although it is. In 2015 no less patently liberal and pro-LGBT a celebrity than Patrick Stewart offered a thoughtful defense for a baker who was sued for declining to put pro-gay messaging on a cake. The backlash was intense, obliging Stewart to clarify his remarks though he didnt back down on his opinion.

This line of thought would not, however, exempt caterers from catering the reception for a same-sex wedding. That would fall into the same sphere as a restaurant selling someone a meal, and would be regulated by applicable antidiscrimination laws.

Its no secret that free speech itself is under attack in many quarters of American life, notably in academia. The Hands On Originals case seems to me an important affirmation of a foundational principle that protects us all and is worth defending.

Read this article:
Gay Rights and the OTHER First Amendment Right - National Catholic Register (blog)