Posts Tagged ‘US Constitution’
There is no First Amendment right to violence | New York Daily News
In his farewell address to Congress, Rep. Adam Kinzinger chastised his Republican colleagues for justifying the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol as “legitimate political discourse.” As the Jan. 6 Committee report made clear, while the message of Trump supporters might be protected political speech, the medium used by the insurrectionists — violent attacks on…
Read MoreCommentary: Here’s what diversity is about, Justice Thomas | Albany Times Union
Dear Justice Thomas, I am a professor at Syracuse University. I teach argumentation, advocacy, and First Amendment theory. During oral arguments in the affirmative action cases brought by Students for Fair Admissions against the University of North Carolina and Harvard University you are quoted saying, “I’ve heard the word ‘diversity’ quite a few times, but…
Read MoreA Battle for the Soul of Our Schools | Medium
The current debates about appropriate curriculum and constitutional boundaries inside the classroom are nothing less than a fight for the soul of the educational system in the United States. As Anya Kamenetz, explained in her New York Times essay, the public school system as we know it today was designed as a public good, an inclusive and diverse…
Read MoreThe Anti-Abortion Movement’s Attempt to Criminalize Abortion Speech | Ms. Magazine
Censorship is a dirty word in America, and so it should be. It imposes silence upon speech, creating an empty void which instead should be filled with debate and discussion. As anti-abortion lawmakers continue to draft legislation to limit abortion access, opponents of new bans are horrified by the sweeping prohibitions lurking within—such as proposals that…
Read MoreA Group of School Board Threats and the First Amendment | Medium
Let’s start here: since the middle of the last century, the constitutionally accepted default option is to protect speech. And one more thing, the First Amendment does not provide any guidelines for civility. Boisterous, angry, offensive speech is shielded from silence by the power of the First Amendment. It provides cover for us to annoy…
Read MoreFreedom Speaks Over the Howl of Anti-Protest Legislation | Medium
Since 2017, 36 states have enacted legislation that restricts the right to protest on public streets and rights of way. Such legislation has taken on new life in the aftermath of growing civil rights protests and current Covid-19 vaccination mandates. However, such bills often wrongly conflate the right to engage in sometimes hyperbolic, discordant, or anger-inducing speech with conduct…
Read MoreAre Mask Mandates a First Amendment Issue? | Medium
The politics of mask wearing appears to be adding to the growing celebrity of the First Amendment. Is the choice to wear a mask a statement of patriotism, or more cynically, is it virtue signaling? More plainly, in terms of the First Amendment, is wearing a mask an element of communication or is it behavior with little…
Read MoreTrump once demanded we “open up” libel laws — it seems some Justices on the Supreme Court agree | Medium
In the current media environment, anyone can gain access to a keyboard and an internet connection and state their claim. Debate in the digital age is large and robust. It is also often dishonest and manipulative. Conspiracy theories run rampant, and words are weaponized, particularly against the most visible members of our population: public officials…
Read MoreThe Constitution does not require a wall of separation between church and state | Medium
The Constitution does not require a wall of separation between church and state. It doesn’t even require a picket fence. The relevant clauses of the First Amendment declare: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof….” Notice there is not a single mention of a wall or…
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