TresSugar

Clothes Call? Woman Kicked Out For Lesbian T-Shirt

CitizenSugar — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:00:10 -0700

Normally a woman entering a federal building to pick up a social security card for her son wouldn't end up in controversy. Unfortunately for Lapriss Gilbert, she was in the wrong place at the wrong time, wearing the wrong t-shirt. When she arrived at the government complex sporting a t-shirt with the words “lesbian.com” on the front, a private security officer hired by the Homeland Security Department stopped her and demanded she leave the premises.

The guard, an employee of Paragon Security, cited The Rules and Regulations Governing Conduct on Federal Property to support his claim that he is able to decide which articles of clothing are acceptable and which are not. Unfortunately, the document does not offer such guidance.

According to a witness, the hired guard’s “loud, unreasonable, aggressive and angry approach to the situation almost caused chaos.” Gilbert says of the incident, "As an African-American and a lesbian, I haven't been through one day without facing some sort of discrimination . . . but this is just shocking." The ACLU is looking into the case they call the most blatant discrimination they've seen in a federal office building.

Iran Considers Death Penalty for Bloggers, Russia Jails One

CitizenSugar — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 09:00:42 -0700

The beauty of the Internet is getting to say exactly what you want in a public forum, right?(Well that and stalking ex-boyfriends and shopping at work, but I digress.) The ability to speak one's mind in bytes and blips has landed one blogger with a jail sentence for extremism. A Russian man who called the local police “scum” and calling for the clean-up of the force he blogged that the police should be burned in the town square twice a day. For this posting, was convicted of “inciting hatred or enmity” and given a one-year suspended sentence.

Free speech activists said the ruling is creating a dangerous precedent: “This was an absolutely unjustified verdict ... This verdict means it will be impossible to make rude comments about anybody.” News of the sentence permeated Russian blogs yesterday leading some to say, "I don't know now if I should be writing here or not." For his part, new Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said he prizes free speech and that Russia should use a light touch when policing the Internet. That's not the case in Iran. To see what's happening there, read more.

In Iran, they have a somewhat different interpretation to "light touch" - the death penalty. Their parliament is debating a bill that would call for death for anyone “...establishing weblogs and sites promoting corruption. . .” Though the government itself will decide what would constitute “promoting corruption." Among other death sentence crimes in Iran are apostasy (leaving a religion, in this case Islam), prostitution, rape and armed robbery.

No word on the world's reaction to the ultimate crime against blogging - starting one and then never posting again.

Is cyberspace the next battleground for free speech? Can speech on the Internet be protected as a vital outlet for those in countries with state-controlled media or oppressive governments?

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Student Suspended for Anti-Obama T-shirt - Free Speech?

LibertySugar — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 10:00:19 -0700

A fifth grader from Colorado wore a homemade T-shirt - that said: "Obama is a terrorist's best friend" - just long enough to get suspended from school. On a day when students wore red, white, and blue to show patriotism, the 11-year-old son of a "proud conservative" decided to show his political opinion, too. The school told the boy to change shirts, turn it inside out, or face suspension. He chose suspension.

The school, which won't discuss the case specifically, says it respects a student's right to wear specific clothing, but looks into cases that might disrupt the learning environment. The father, who most likely predicted that the school would ask his son to remove the shirt, has plans to bring a lawsuit on the basis of free speech. Who do you think should win?

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Flag Burning. Free Speech or Abomination?

CitizenSugar — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:00:24 -0700

Here's your picture worth a thousand words. What do you think?

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Taking Free Speech Too Far

GiggleSugar — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 14:00:00 -0700

You gotta draw the line somewhere.

Thanks, eBaum's World!

William Shatner Reads Palin's Tweets - I Mean, Poems

TresSugar — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

It appears that these writers aren't the only ones who think Sarah Palin is a poet. Conan O'Brien proclaims she is a master of free verse because of her creative use of language. Conan recently invited the one and only William Shatner onto his show to recite her farewell speech, then brought Shatner back on Wednesday to recite her Tweets. With a bongo player and bass player as background, you can almost imagine being in a smoke-filled, Beatnik dive in the '50s . . .

No Bible During Show and Tell - Right Call?

TresSugar — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 04:00:00 -0700

A US court has ruled that a kindergartner at a Philadelphia public school cannot have his mother read passages from the Bible during his show and tell presentation.

The court decided that the boy's free speech rights were not violated by the schools refusal to let him share his "favorite book" because the classroom was a nonpublic venue and the children were very young.

Do you think a young child at a public school should be able to share religious texts during show and tell? What if the boy wanted to share the story of Noah's ark or some other insightful parable? Does separation of church and state mean that all religious material should be banned from public schools even when it has the opportunity to help students understand each other and their diverse backgrounds?

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Donald Trump Lets Miss California Keep Her Crown

TresSugar — Tue, 12 May 2009 09:01:18 -0700

Stop the presses! Carrie Prejean will remain Miss California!

With the all the TV cameras pointing at him during a press conference today, Donald Trump announced that controversial Miss California will keep her crown.

Prejean's explanation that she is opposed to gay marriage, said Trump, was "honorable" and "honest," and he pointed out that President Obama gave the same answer. Bringing Obama into this is sure to give the story more time in the press (if that's possible). As for Prejean's topless photos, Trump determined that the pictures are fine, considering the Miss USA pageant is a "modern" pageant.

Prejean spoke for herself too. She was just giving her respectful opinion, she claimed, based on her upbringing, that marriage should be between a man and a woman. She argued that the attacks against her for exercising her freedom of speech undermined her constitutional rights. (Wait - don't the attacks count as free speech too?)

The still-crowned Miss California explained that she wasn't the most outspoken proponent of traditional marriage, but thanks to the media storm, she's become the most visible. Judging by the panel of experts that preceded and followed the press conference on cable TV and the crowd of reporters in attendance, it seems she's correct.

Do you think the Miss California saga has offered an important jumping off point for the gay marriage debate, or is it time to put this story to rest?
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The State You're In: 15 License Plates That Speak

TresSugar — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 04:00:00 -0700

It used to be we'd slap whatever the state handed us on our bumpers, but that's such efficient use of tax dollars. That all changed in 1977, when a family of Jehovah's Witnesses taped over the "Live Free or Die" part of their New Hampshire license plate, claiming it violated their free speech rights. The case went to the Supreme Court, which decided it was unconstitutional to force individuals, or their cars, to be "mobile billboards." Of course, if you can't force 'em, you can't stop 'em.

So here we are, 22 years later with a license plate for everyone. This week Florida gave drivers a new option - Jesus on the cross. When Florida governor Charlie Crist was asked about the breach of church and state, he said, "If they don’t want one they don’t have to buy one."

But what can we buy?

View Slideshow ›

Should We Separate Hate Speech From Freedom of Speech?

CitizenSugar — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 12:15:24 -0700

If a Canadian magazine publishes an article about the threat Islam places on Western values in a mocking or biting tone - but not any different from what people read on the Internet - is the reaction any different in Canada than it is in the US? Yes. The magazine that published the critical article is now facing trial to decide if it violated a provincial hate-speech law.

The battle between what is hate speech and what is free is complicated in Canada.
In the US the debate has been settled. The First Amendment allows the media to say anything about minority groups and religions - even false, provocative, or hateful things - without legal consequences.

Speech laws in Canada stem from a desire to promote societal harmony. A Canadian human rights commissioner said of the article, "in Canada, the right to freedom of expression is not absolute, nor should it be. By portraying Muslims as all sharing the same negative characteristics, including being a threat to "the West," this explicit expression of Islamophobia further perpetuates and promotes prejudice toward Muslims and others."

One of the article's authors says, "what we're learning here is really the bedrock difference between the United States and the countries that are in a broad sense its legal cousins. Western governments are becoming increasingly comfortable with the regulation of opinion. The First Amendment really does distinguish the US, not just from Canada but from the rest of the Western world."

Is regulation for the sake of harmony a good idea? Should there be a line drawn between hate speech and free speech?

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