U.S. Senator JD Vance Pens Letter to Irish Ambassador Regarding ‘Authoritarian,’ Anti-Free Speech Legislation

U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) sent a letter to Irish Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason on Tuesday expressing his concern over a bill in the Irish parliament.

The bill, introduced last year, would combat “hate speech” by amending Irish law “relating to the prohibition of incitement to violence or hatred against a person or a group of persons on account of certain characteristics (referred to as protected characteristics) of the person or the group of persons.”

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Poll: One-Third of Democrats Say Americans Have ‘Too Much Freedom’ of Speech

A new poll from RealClearPolitics shows that a staggering number of registered Democrats think there is “too much freedom” to speak freely in the United States.

As reported by the Washington Free Beacon, the RCP survey on Friday revealed that 34% of Democrats believe that Americans have “too much freedom” of speech, compared to just 14.6% of Republicans who believed the same. By contrast, 46% of Republicans believe that Americans have “too little freedom,” with only 22% of Democrats agreeing.

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‘Losing Our Freedom of Speech’: Parent Speaks Out Against Middle School’s Explicit Reading List

Cooper Middle School in McClean, Virginia, gave students an age- inappropriate reading list for their 7th grade English class this year, a concerned parent told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Students in the English class were assigned a wide variety of books on topics that spanned from illegal immigration to Black Lives Matter (BLM), according to a copy of the list. Although the reading list clarifies that students will not have to read every single book, one teacher at the middle school said students would have to choose books to read from the provided options unless a parent offered an alternate, school-approved book, an orientation video welcoming students to the class showed.

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Christian Organizations Celebrate Supreme Court’s Ruling Against Forcing Web Designer to Work for Same-Sex Weddings

Christian groups applauded the Supreme Court’s ruling Friday that held “The First Amendment prohibits Colorado from forcing a website designer to create expressive designs speaking messages with which the designer disagrees.”

Organizations, including the Catholic League, Family Research Council, and the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, submitted friend of the court (amici) briefs in support of 303 Creative, the custom website design business owned by Lorie Smith.

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Massachusetts Family Institute Defends First Amendment Rights of 12-Year-Old Student Against School That Punished Him for Wearing ‘Two Genders’ Shirt

The Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI) announced Tuesday the public policy organization sent a demand letter to the superintendent of Middleborough Public Schools on behalf of a 12-year-old student who was allegedly punished for wearing a shirt that said, “There are only two genders.”

Liam Morrison defended his First Amendment rights to his school committee on April 13, several weeks after he was reportedly taken out of gym class at Nichols Middle School and informed by school staff that complaints had been made about the shirt he was wearing that said, “There are only two genders.”

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Goldwater Institute Introduces Plan to Rid Universities of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Programs

The Arizona-based Goldwater Institute (GI) announced Monday that it, in collaboration with Speech First, is unveiling model legislation called the “Freedom from Indoctrination Act” (FFIA), which could ensure College students are not forced to receive instruction around activism ideology.

“This legislation would strengthen the Arizona Board of Regents’ existing requirements that Arizona public universities provide education in American Institutions by stressing the importance of the nation’s founding documents and principles. It would also build on the Goldwater Campus Free Speech Act, which the Arizona legislature enacted in 2018 to protect free speech on college campuses. Importantly—considering we’ve already seen Northern Arizona University require students to take classwork in Critical Race Theory (CRT)—this legislation would also ensure that no student attending an Arizona public university would ever be forced to take courses in ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (DEI) or CRT as a condition of getting a degree,” a GI spokesperson said in an email to The Arizona Sun Times.

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Athlete Riley Gaines Tells Group in Native Sumner County That the Issue is Not Just Fairness in Sports

HENDERSONVILLE, Tennessee – Riley Gaines, a 12-time All-American swimmer for the University of Kentucky turned women’s sports advocate, told a group in her native Sumner County that the issue is not just a matter of fairness in sports but one of freedom of speech and denying objective truths.

Gaines spoke at the monthly meeting of the Sumner County Constitutional Republicans (SCCR), which moved across the road to the Beech Cumberland Church from its usual meeting location at the Shackle Island Fire Rescue building, due to the crowd size numbering well over 100.

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Arizona Court Rules Against the City of Phoenix in Free-Speech Lawsuit, Even After the City Made Changes to NFL Signage Rule

Arizonan Bramley Paulin has achieved victory in a free-speech lawsuit against the City of Phoenix which allowed the National Football League (NFL) and Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee (ASBHC) to decide what signs residents could or could not display in a part of the City.

“This ruling is a huge victory for Bramley’s rights. Thanks to today’s order, Bramley will be able to exercise his free speech rights without unconstitutional restrictions on what he can and cannot say,” said Goldwater Institute Staff Attorney John Thorpe in a statement emailed to The Arizona Sun Times.

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Temporary Victory Achieved in the Goldwater Institute’s Free Speech Lawsuit Against Phoenix

The Goldwater Institute (GI) announced Wednesday that its lawsuit against the City of Phoenix has resulted in a judge barring it from enforcing its “Clean Zone” law, at least for the next week.

“Phoenix residents and business owners shouldn’t have to beg the NFL for permission to freely communicate with the public on their own property. Yesterday’s temporary injunction ensures they don’t have to — and we hope that city leaders will do the right thing and repeal this unconstitutional mandate at next week’s City Council meeting,” said GI Staff Attorney John Thorpe in a statement emailed to The Arizona Sun Times.

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Gavin Newsom Signs Bill to Punish Doctors for Providing COVID-19 Vaccine Informed Consent Information Not Backed by Government and Big Pharma

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Friday a bill that allows the medical boards of California to be used as government overseers as they discipline doctors who provide their patients with informed consent about the risks of the COVID-19 mRNA shots and the benefits of early treatment for COVID disease with off-label drugs.

Newman signed AB 2098, which labels as “unprofessional conduct,” a doctor’s discussion about the benefits of early treatment of COVID with effective, readily available, and inexpensive medications already in use for years.

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Goldwater Institute Helps Uncover Free Speech Concerns at the University of Arizona

University of Arizona

A recent report shared that there may be issues concerning free speech on the University of Arizona campus following the disclosure of bias complaint documents.

“Colleges throughout the country have set up anonymous reporting systems where students inform on their peers to campus authorities, creating social justice activists who blow the whistle on their classmates’ politically incorrect social media posts or professors who fail to use the most up-to-date ‘wokeisms,'” According to a press release from the GI. “Now, the Goldwater Institute has uncovered what the University of Arizona tried to hide: an Orwellian campus reporting apparatus that fosters a culture of fear over free speech.”

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Goldwater Institute Grills the University of Arizona After Refusal to Release Public Records of ‘Bias Reporting’ on Campus

The Arizona-based Goldwater Institute this week contacted the University of Arizona (UA), demanding it grants a reporter’s public record request for copies of complaints filed under UA’s Bias Education & Support Team (BEST).

“College campuses should be places of free and open exchange, where students can respectfully discuss opposing viewpoints and think critically about the major issues of the day. But instead, progressives are using bias response teams to implement their own, illiberal agenda across the country,” wrote Goldwater Institute Legal Programs Manager Kamron Kompani.

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Federal Court Strikes Down Law Against Openly Encouraging People to Come into the U.S. Illegally

Temporary processing facilities in Donna, Texas, safely processes family units and unaccompanied alien children (UACs) encountered and in the custody of the U.S. Border Patrol March 17, 2021. The facility will bolster processing capacity in the RGV while the permanent Centralized Processing Center in McAllen is renovated. CBP Photo by Jaime Rodriguez Sr.

A U.S. federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that a federal law banning the encouragement of non-U.S. citizens to enter or reside in the country illegally is unconstitutional because it penalizes freedom of speech.

In a 2-1 decision, The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the law criminalizes “vast amounts of protected speech” like informing non-citizens about social programs or telling family members to stay in the country even if their visa expires. Although the law is part of a broader statute barring human smuggling, Circuit Judge Nancy Moritz wrote that the law likely bans commonplace statements that are repeated across the nation countless times each day.

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Mark Brnovich Applauds SCOTUS for Upholding the First Amendment Rights of a Former Public High School Coach

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R) applauded the Supreme Court of the United States for upholding the First Amendment rights of Joseph Kennedy, a former Washington high school football coach.

“This is a great win, strongly affirming our constitutional recognition for freedom of speech, religion, and personal expression for all,” Brnovich said. “The First Amendment is at the core of who we are as Americans, and we must vigorously uphold it not only in court but every day of our lives.”

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FBI Director Says China Is Bigger Threat to U.S. Than Any Other Nation

On Monday, FBI Director Christopher Wray declared that the greatest foreign threat to the United States is the country of China, adding that the nation’s recent escalation of tensions regarding the country of Taiwan are “more brazen” and “more damaging” than anything seen in recent history.

The New York Post reports that Wray made his remarks at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California. Just days before the start of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, Wray said that China poses a threat “to our economic security and to our freedoms: Our freedom of speech, of conscience, our freedom to elect and be served by our representatives without foreign meddling, our freedom to prosper when we toil and invent.”

“I’ve spoken a lot about this threat since I became FBI director,” Wray continued. “But I want to focus on it here tonight because in many ways it’s reached a new level — more brazen, more damaging than ever before, and it’s vital, vital, that all of us focus on that threat together.”

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Emails Reveal University President ‘Struggled with Supporting Free Speech’ for Christian Activist’s Appearances on Campus

A Christian activist’s appearances at Salem State University prompted the institution to change its free speech policies while being legally compelled to uphold the individual’s First Amendment rights. 

Campus Reform has previously covered the activist, Chike Uzuegbunam during his legal fights to exercise free speech as he publicly promotes his religious views, which have come under scrutiny for their purported anti-LGBTQ messages. 

In October 2020, Uzuegbunam won his Supreme Court case against his institution after Georgia Gwinnett that his speech, which included controversial flyers, “should not be constitutionally protected,” Campus Reform reported in March. 

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Texas Governor Signs Law Preventing Social Media Companies from Banning People for Their Views

Gov. Greg Abbott signs law

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law Thursday preventing social media companies from banning users for their political views.

The law, known as HB 20, prohibits social media platforms from banning or suspending users, and removing or suppressing their content, based on political viewpoint. The bill was introduced by state Sen. Bryan Hughes partly in an effort to combat perceived censorship of conservatives by Facebook, Twitter, Google-owned YouTube, and other major tech companies.

“Social media websites have become our modern-day public square,” Abbott said in a statement. “They are a place for healthy public debate where information should be able to flow freely — but there is a dangerous movement by social media companies to silence conservative viewpoints and ideas.”

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Supreme Court Rules Against California Requirement That Exposes Non-Profit Donations

In a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court struck down a California requirement, pushed by Vice President Kamala Harris while she was Attorney General, that would force the disclosure of donations to various non-profits.

In an opinion siding with the Thomas More Law Center (TMLC) and Americans For Prosperity (AFP), who both sued the state, Chief Justice John Roberts stated, “The government may regulate in the First Amendment area only with narrow specificity, and compelled disclosure regimes are no exception.”

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Sen. Blackburn Introduces Resolution to Protect Freedom of Speech at Universities

  U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) spoke on the Senate floor Wednesday about her newly introduced resolution to encourage free speech and inclusive debate on college campuses. Video of her remarks on the Campus Free Speech Resolution of 2019 is available here. College campus protests in the 1960s framed Americans’ ideas for what modern protests look like, Blackburn told the Senate. “Once-sleepy college campuses became the scenes of widespread unrest,” she said. Blackburn referenced the Supreme Court ruling in Healy v. James that found that Central Connecticut State University had deprived students of their First Amendment rights when the university prevented the formation of a local chapter of Students for a Democratic Society. Free speech of conservative views is being stifled at universities today, she said. Blackburn, in a press release, said, “On the eve of National Higher Education day, I am introducing the Campus Free Speech Resolution of 2019. It’s a first step in restoring sanity to free speech for American college students. It recognizes that universities should protect the free and open exchange of ideas and that freedom of speech is worth protecting in a world increasingly hostile to democracy.” The Campus Free Speech Resolution of 2019 is…

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The Origins of ‘Hate Speech’

by Kim Holmes   Intolerance and illiberalism, nakedly defined as abstractions or principles, are seldom if ever outwardly embraced by progressives. None but the most extreme will argue that intolerance and censorship are good things in themselves. Normally the preferred course is more subtle. Instead of openly arresting people who say the wrong things, the new purveyors of intolerance try to sublimate their prohibitions on speech, expression, and thought into more popularly accepted channels. Something must be done to make these prohibitions more palatable, because there is still a great deal of respect in America for freedom of thought, speech, and expression. How to do that? The answer is quite simple: Change the subject. Shift the gaze away from the sanctity of speech to something more wholesome—to the feelings of minorities, for example, or to the supposed desire to live in more diverse communities. One of the most popular strategies is to carve out a special category of speech that, in theory at least, leaves the rest of free speech alone. If this can be done, speech can be regulated and criminalized without involving a direct assault on the First Amendment. A prime example of parsing good speech from bad…

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