Tag: Free Speech

Commentary: Big Tech’s Escalating War on Free Speech

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On June 19, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld 9-0 the right to freedom of speech, including “hate speech.” As Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the court: “The proudest boast of our free speech jurisprudence is that we protect the freedom to express the thought that we hate.” Justice Anthony Kennedy added in a concurring opinion: “A law that can be directed against speech found offensive to some portion of the public can be turned against minority and dissenting views to the detriment of all.”

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Hawley Calls For Investigation into Officials Favoring Protests While Targeting Religion

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Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley called for an investigation into free speech double-standards, saying that state officials have favored protests while targeting religious freedom.

He asked Attorney General William Barr and the Department of Justice to launch a “full civil rights investigation” into violations of “free exercise and free speech rights of religious Americans” in a Tuesday letter.

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Crom Carmichael: The Democratic Party Opposes Conservative Speech

Julie Carr

Live from Music Row Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. –  host Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the studio.

During the second hour, Leahy and Carmichael discuss the Democrat Party’s opposition to Conservative and common sense speak as recently witnessed by the shaming of New Orleans Saints’ quarterback Drew Brees and Denver Broncos Head Coach Vic Fangio. Recently, both men have walked back their comments and apologized due to accusations of racism.

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Senators Ask State Department to Monitor Free Speech Violations Concerning Coronavirus in China, Other Countries

Jordyn Pair

Several senators across the United States have called on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the U.S. Representative to the United Nations Kelly Craft to address concerns about free speech violations in several countries around the world.

Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Cornyn (R-TX), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) submitted the letter on Monday, pointing to crackdown on free speech concerning the coronavirus in China, as well as in Turkey, Bangladesh, Niger and Cambodia, as a reason for concern.

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Sen. Marsha Blackburn Encourages Conservative College Students to Stay Strong Against Leftist Attacks

Chris Butler

  U.S. Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee says conservative college students should feel encouraged as they contend with hostile leftist professors and leftist classmates on campus. “Be encouraged. Be grateful you are someone who does not fall in line with the liberal dictate of the day,” Blackburn told CampusReform.org this week. “That you know who you are and what you stand for and don’t ever ever ever let anybody sit down and tell you to shut up.” As The Tennessee Star reported, Blackburn has sponsored a resolution to encourage free speech and inclusive debate on college campuses. Blackburn said universities are stifling conservative speech. “Imagine how you would feel if you were on a college campus and you were not encouraged to be inquisitive and to learn. You were discouraged from exploring other opinions or reading a variety of work. I always feel as though my conservative viewpoints and principles have been strengthened by reading works from our founders,” Blackburn told Campus Reform. “Reading works about our nation’s history. Looking at the people and their lives that were so involved at different, crucial times of our nation’s history. Challenging myself. I will periodically read something with which I know…

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How College Students Really Feel About Free Speech on Campus

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by Kaylee Greenlee   A new survey finding that college students generally support free speech also shows what for some is a worrisome divide over what students value more: an “inclusive society” that “welcomes diverse groups” or protecting “the extremes of free speech.” The Knight Foundation’s “Free Expressions of College Campuses” report polled students over the course of three days on their views of protesting, offensive language, and the inclusivity of on-campus climates. One question was whether students agreed with shouting down speakers or trying to prevent them from talking. While the results showed only 6% responded that it is “always acceptable,” 45% of students said it is “sometimes acceptable.” Jonathan Butcher, a senior policy analyst in the Center for Education Policy at The Heritage Foundation pointed out that, in total, 51% of the college students surveyed say they believe that violating another’s First Amendment protections because they disagree is acceptable to some degree. One area that the Knight Foundation didn’t explore is what actions, if any, students believe should be taken against students who violate someone else’s First Amendment rights. Butcher said he sees a “need for state legislative proposals for public universities to be inclusive of the First…

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Perrysburg High School Student Arrested in Connection With Disparaging Twitter Account

Anthony Gockowski

A Perrysburg High School student was arrested this week in connection to a Twitter account that contained disparaging comments about his female peers. The student, 18-year-old Mehros Nassersharifi, was charged with telecommunications harassment for a Twitter account he started called “Perrysburg Girls Ranked.” All of the tweets have since been deleted, except for one. “We are going to start releasing the first wave. 64 hottest girls at Perrysburg will be ranked from worst to first. Personality, face, and body have all been accounted for and a description for their ranking is also provided. If you didn’t make the list, you’re just fat and fried,” the tweet states. Nassersharifi was charged Wednesday by Perrysburg Police Department, according to a press release from the school. “We are pleased to share that more than 100 students reported this Twitter account to teachers and administrators last week, which enabled us to quickly respond and begin our investigation in partnership with Perrysburg Police Department,” the school said. “Our disciplinary process has been initiated. In a serious situation like this, discipline may include expulsion,” the statement continued. “School districts are very limited with what we may share with the public in these situations.” According to The…

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Trump’s Executive Order to Colleges: Protect Free Speech or Risk Billions in Federal Grants

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by Fred Lucas   Polly Olson, a student at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, last year handed out homemade Valentine cards on her campus with Christian messages until college officials told her she was restricted to a “free speech zone.” On Thursday, Olson told her story at the White House before President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at protecting free speech on college campuses. “My mother told me when she was homeschooling me that I would need to know what my First Amendment rights were, because someday they would be violated, and I would have to stand up for them,” Olson said, speaking at the East Room event. “I was told I was soliciting and disrupting the learning environment, and that it would not be tolerated, and that I would have to stop handing out valentines.” Trump’s executive order, “Improving Free Inquiry, Transparency, and Accountability at Colleges and Universities,” directs federal agencies, including the departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Defense, to withhold money from colleges that censor student speech. The executive order would affect at least $35.8 billion in research grant money doled out to universities and colleges each year, a senior administration official said. It…

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House Democrats Derail Rep. Green’s Attempt to Protect Free Speech By Voting Down His Amendment to Bill That Would Give Feds Control of Elections

Jason M. Reynolds

House Democrats on Thursday voted down an amendment by U.S. Rep. Dr. Mark Green (R-TN-07) to protect free speech in House Resolution 1, which seeks to change campaign finance, election and lobbying laws. Tracking information on H.R.1 is here. “Free speech should be protected,” Green said in a hearing at the Committee on Oversight and Reform. “House Resolution One is a misguided bill with many problems. One problem in particular has united everyone from the Heritage Foundation to the ACLU. It’s the bill’s assault on free speech.” Video of Green’s speech is available here from C-SPAN. Green pointed out a statement by the ACLU that the bill will “chill speech essential to our public discourse.” “When the ACLU admonishes a Democrat bill … everyone should take notice,” he said. Green said his amendment reaffirms the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech.” The congressman tweeted, “I offered an amendment on the House Floor today to H.R. 1 expressing the sense of Congress that free speech should be protected. Why are Democrats opposing an amendment simply reaffirming free speech? https://www.c-span.org/video/?c478503″ I offered an amendment on the House Floor today to H.R. 1 expressing the sense of…

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Arizona Lawmakers Stand Up for Students Wearing ‘MAGA’ Gear in Dispute With High School

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by Ginny Montalbano   Some Arizona lawmakers are raising free speech concerns after a group of students and parents said high school officials called on students to remove pro-Trump “Make America Great Again” gear. The incident occurred March 1 when Perry High School in Gilbert, Arizona, hosted its “Party in the USA” Spirit Day. Heidi Jones and Jennifer Farris, the mothers of two girls in the group who wore the Trump gear, told the Arizona Republic newspaper that school officials asked students to take off their gear. The school suspended Jones’ daughter, Logan, but a school spokesman later said that action was unrelated to the Spirit Day events. According to Arizona Central, a spokesman for the Chandler Unified School District said that other than a Trump banner, students were “not asked to put away any Trump gear.” But parents and students disputed that. Principal Dan Serrano sent out an email to detail the school’s side of the story. “The administration addressed an incident that occurred at lunch this past Friday, when students carrying political signage caused a disruption and created safety concern. The students were asked to put away the signage, and they complied,” Serrano wrote Saturday. “However, after school…

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Tennessee Star Report-Knoxville Edition: According to CNN, ‘Everyone Get’s a Pass’ as MSM Bands Together Claiming First Amendment Rights to White House Press Corp

Julie Carr

On Wednesday’s Tennessee Star Report: Knoxville Edition – broadcast on WETR 92.3 FM in Knoxville – Tennessee Star Political Editor Steve Gill talked about Megyn Kelly’s inability to create a base and keep it, CNN’s lawsuit against the White House, and how the usual ‘liberal’ suspects are joining the MSM band wagon in support of CNN’s ‘friend of the court brief’ claiming it’s a First Amendment right. A couple of quick items for you.  The Today Show has apparently seen a ratings increase after they fired Megyn Kelly.  That’s right, ratings for the 9am hour of the Today Show increased after they let Megyn Kelly go.  Now this was after they let her go because she had apologized for comments where she was accused of defending ‘black face’ for purposes of Halloween costumes. The problem that Megyn Kelly has had, and she’s beautiful, she’s bright, she’s articulate, she’s an excellent news caster it’s just she doesn’t understand how to create a base and keep it. I mean when she was at Fox, she seemed to go out of her way to make it clear that she wasn’t a Conservative.  And then when she went to NBC she couldn’t overcome the fact that…

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Facebook, Google Tools Reveal New Political Ad Tactics

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  Public databases that shine a light on online political ads – launched by Facebook and Google before Tuesday’s U.S. elections – offer the public the first broad view of how quickly the companies yank advertisements that break their rules. The databases also provided campaigns unprecedented insight into opponents’ online marketing, enabling them to capitalize on weaknesses, political strategists told Reuters. Facebook and Google, owned by Alphabet, introduced the databases this year to give details on some political ads bought on their services, a response to U.S. prosecutors’ allegations that Russian agents who deceptively interfered in the 2016 election purchased ads from the companies. Russia denies the charges. American security experts said the Russians changed tactics this year. Reuters found that Facebook and Google took down 436 ads from May through October related to 34 U.S. House of Representatives contests declared competitive last month by RealClearPolitics, which tracks political opinion polls. Of the 258 removed ads with start and end dates, ads remained on Google an average of eight days and Facebook 15 days, according to data Reuters collected from the databases. Based on ranges in the databases, the 436 ads were displayed up to 20.5 million times and cost…

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Commentary: Yes, the Democratic Mob is Real

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by Donald Wilfong   Yes, the Democratic mob exists, and it is very real. It is a faction that aims disrupt to our representative government in an uncivilized manner. They are the reason for the Justice Brett Kavanaugh outrage, the senseless attack of the GOP’s charity baseball team last year, and Senator Rand Paul’s (R-Ky.) wife Kelley sleeping with a loaded gun on her bedside table. The mob is real and while Democrats and the mainstream media try to avoid this fact, it is something that Republicans should label for what it is. It has no place in our republic. In an interview at Oxford, England, Hillary Clinton urged Democrats across America to be more uncivil and hostile towards Republicans across America, it is clear there is a real threat. While some news organizations will laugh and poke fun at the word “mob,” I ask, what better word is there to describe it? Webster’s Dictionary describes a mob as “a large crowd of people, especially one that is disorderly and intent on causing trouble or violence.” The three key components to describe a mob are there being a large crowd, disorderly, and violent. Were the people outside the Capitol and…

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UC Berkeley Limits Free Speech … Again

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by Troy Worden   The University of California at Berkeley, regarded as the birthplace of the free speech movement, has done away with one of its historic “free speech zones.”Carol Christ, chancellor of UC Berkeley, last month e-mailed a statement to students, faculty, and staff detailing changes to the university’s policy regarding free speech events on campus.Among the changes is designation of the West Crescent section of campus as a “free speech zone,” meaning it will not be subject to additional restrictions imposed last year on other areas of campus.But Christ also announced that Lower Sproul Plaza, which historically has been considered a free speech zone, along with Upper Sproul Plaza, now will be subject to those restrictions. The restrictions are part of the university’s “Major Events Policy” implemented in the wake of conservative speaker Milo Yiannopoulos’ aborted “Free Speech Week” event in September 2017. The new policy was proposed by a commission upon review of the Yiannopoulos incident and several other hotly contested events featuring conservative speakers invited in 2017, among them David Horowitz, Ann Coulter, and Ben Shapiro. Christ’s announcement Sept. 10 is in line with the April report of the commission, which recommended the chancellor extend the…

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Analysis: California’s Bill Establishing the ‘Internet Social Media Advisory Group’ Could Run Afoul of the First Amendment

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California is one step away from going down the unconstitutional road of government-mandated censorship of Internet speech. The California Senate and State Assembly recently passed S.B. 1424, the “Internet: social media: advisory group” act. This fake news advisory act is now on the desk of Governor Jerry Brown for his signature. According to Section 3085 of the legislation: The Attorney General shall, subject to the limitations of subdivision (d), establish an advisory group consisting of at least one member of the Department of Justice, Internet-based social media providers, civil liberties advocates, and First Amendment scholars, to do both of the following: (a) Study the problem of the spread of false information through Internet-based social media platforms. (b) Draft a model strategic plan for Internet-based social media platforms to use to mitigate the spread of false information through their platforms. It’s hard to imagine those voting for the bill were motivated by good intentions. In any case, good intentions are not enough. Is it hard to imagine the results of the law will be censorship of views that politicians disagree with and views critical of politicians? Most likely, Californians are not concerned about “fact-checking” content like “a mile is 5290 feet” or an appeal to…

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A New Campus Invention for Policing Speech

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by Dan E. Way   Colleges are using a new tool with the frightening potential to shut down open dialogue. They go by the benign-sounding name of “bias response teams.”  Bias response teams monitor what students and faculty say. They encourage students to report, often anonymously, comments or behavior that make them feel uncomfortable or threatened, even if the speech or conduct is constitutionally protected. Those who are reported can face referral to student conduct administrators or law enforcement, but records on whether or how often punitive action is meted out are elusive. Indeed, colleges are reluctant to share much of the data collected by them. Campuses have created bias response teams as early as the 1980s, according to an article in the Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice authored in part by UNC-Charlotte professor Ryan Miller. Arizona State University was among the pioneers, said Adam Steinbaugh, director of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education’s (FIRE) Individual Rights Defense Program. By 1996, Ohio State University and others increasingly got on board. And their expansion has been a national issue. Bias response teams operate on at least 231 college campuses in 43 states and the District of Columbia, and the number is growing.…

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Commentary: Political Correctness, Just One Tool In The Arsenal Of ‘Sustainability’

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by Kathleen Marquardt, Vice President, American Policy Center   “At its worst, political correctness is nothing different from Orwell’s Newspeak – an attempt to change the way people think by forcibly changing the way they speak.” ~ Urban Dictionary “Every child in America entering school at the age of five is mentally ill because he comes to school with certain allegiances to our founding fathers, toward our elected officials, toward his parents, toward a belief in a supernatural being, and toward the sovereignty of this nation as a separate entity. It’s up to you as teachers to make all these sick children well by creating the international child of the future.” Chester M. Pierce, Harvard psychiatrist, speaking as an expert in public education at the 1973 International Education Seminar. The “Dear Hillary” letter, written on Nov. 11, 1992 by Marc Tucker, president of the National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE), lays out a plan “to remold the entire American system” into “a seamless web that literally extends from cradle to grave and is the same system for everyone,” coordinated by “a system of labor market boards at the local, state and federal levels” where curriculum and “job matching” will be handled by counselors “accessing…

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Commentary: Only in America’s Schools Today Could ‘Partying Like It’s 1776’ Be Offensive

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Signing the Constitution painting

by Jarrett Stepman   At the rate we are going, saying “good morning” might become offensive. The principal of Cherry Hill High School East in New Jersey issued an apology after some students deemed the public school’s prom theme, “Party Like It’s 1776,” to be insensitive. “I am writing to apologize for the hurt feelings this reference caused for members of our school family,” Dennis Perry wrote Friday in a letter, accordingto the Cherry Hill Courier Post. “I especially apologize to our African American students, who I have let down by not initially recognizing the inappropriateness of this wording,” he said. [ The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution. Find out more ] The principal announced that tickets would not be needed to get into the prom, a name would suffice, the tickets would be redesigned, and “safeguards” would be laid down in the future to make sure nobody is offended by anything the school does. What is especially ridiculous about this whole situation is that the school is hosting the prom at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, a building that pays tribute to the nation’s founding documents. Every American, of…

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Arizona Passes Law to Protect Free Speech on Campus

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by Jonathan Butcher   For the second time in three years, Arizona lawmakers have strengthened laws protecting free speech on public college campuses. In 2016, state lawmakers banned so-called “free speech zones” on public university campuses, and on Wednesday, Republican Gov. Doug Ducey signed legislation that protects individuals’ rights to demonstrate on campus. It also prohibits a school from forcing faculty and students to take specific positions on controversial subjects. Colleges will also have less authority to restrict speech on campus. The law recognizes that administrators can regulate speech on the public parts of campus, but it limits that authority. While the First Amendment has long limited regulations to the “time, place, and manner” of speech in public forums, now schools can only exercise that authority to restrict speech if it is “necessary to achieve a compelling governmental interest” and is “the least restrictive means” for doing so. The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution. Find out more >> These provisions make it more difficult for colleges to censor free expression on the quad and other public spaces on campus. The law allows for the “spontaneous distribution of literature,” and says any person…

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Kanye West’s Shoutout to Conservative Commentator Underscores Need for Civility, Respect

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by Paris Dennard   Everyone is making a big deal about rapper Kanye West’s admiring tweet about conservative Candace Owens after another one of her provocative comments went viral. “I love the way Candace Owens thinks,” West tweeted Saturday morning in the first of a string about paying attention and thinking for yourself: https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/987696355341553665 [ The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution. Find out more ] Maybe it is because the Republican Party is nearly void of mainstream celebrities that we conservatives get overly excited when we hear even the smallest bit of news of a Hollywood endorsement of something conservative. Owens, 28, is director of urban engagement for Turning Point USA, an organization dedicated to teaching conservative principles to young Americans. And of course West, 40, is the hugely successful, Grammy-winning hip-hop star. Owens replied to West on Twitter: I’m freaking out. @kanyewest ….please take a meeting with me. I tell every single person that everything that I have been inspired to do, was written in your music. I am my own biggest fan, because you made it okay. I need you to help wake up the black community.…

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Reddit CEO Champions Free Speech, Says Racism Allowed, But Not ‘Welcome,’ On the Site

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Reddit has a history of allowing its users to say just about anything. On Wednesday, its CEO said racist language is just fine — officially giving license to the hatred that already lives on the site, which bills itself as the front page of the internet. Now he’s backpedaling a bit. As tech companies face increasing pressure to police content on their platforms, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said something to the equivalent of the old saying “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.”

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Diamond and Silk Open Up About their Censure by Facebook: ‘It’s Discrimination’

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Facebook may be realizing it made an error in its censorship of two of President Donald Trump’s most vocal supporters: Diamond and Silk. Fox News reports that the tech giant is reconsidering its recent classification of videos from Diamond — Lynnette Hardaway (shown above left) and Silk (Rochelle Richardson, above right) — that it currently labeled “unsafe to the community.”

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Commentary: Corporatists Like Google, Reddit, and Citibank Use Their Commercial Might to Cancel The Bill of Rights

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by George Rasley, CHQ Editor   This past week major corporations made several announcements that should be profoundly troubling to liberty-loving Americans. The first was that Google’s YouTube would takedown and begin censoring gun-related content. They were not talking about content advocating violence or illegal acts, such as the Antifa and jihadi content that has often been reported on the platform. Instead, the search giant announced it was censoring perfectly legal demonstration and entertainment content they decided they didn’t like – even if it was legal. According to anti-gun news outlet Bloomberg, which first reported the news: YouTube will ban videos that promote or link to websites selling firearms and accessories, including bump stocks, which allow a semi-automatic rifle to fire faster. Additionally, YouTube said it will prohibit videos with instructions on how to assemble firearms. The video site, owned by Alphabet Inc.’s Google, has faced intense criticism for hosting videos about guns, bombs and other deadly weapons. For many gun-rights supporters, YouTube has been a haven. A current search on the site for “how to build a gun” yields 25 million results, though that includes items such as toys. At least one producer of gun videos saw its page…

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Commentary: Will the Supreme Court Uphold Slavery of Christians?

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Jack Phillips

by George Rasley   Back in July of 2012 we told you about Jack Phillips, the baker-owner of Masterpiece Cake Shop in Lakewood, Colorado refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple and ever since than radical homosexuals have been trying to drive him out of business. The same radical homosexuals that tried to run Jack Phillips out of business also filed a complaint against him with the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, where they were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union. Administrative law judge Robert N. Spence later found that Jack Phillips of Masterpiece Cake Shop violated the law when he refused to use his talent and creative energy in the service of homosexuals who wanted him to bake cakes to honor their supposed “marriages.” Administrative law judge Spence’s finding represented a new and frightening chapter in the Left’s war on Christians because there is a fundamental difference between merely selling, cookies, cakes, brownies and other goods, which Phillips was willing to do, and using your creative energies and talent in the service of something that violates your Christian beliefs. Were Jack Phillips an atheist and member of the creative elite, such as an artist or a writer…

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Boise State Students Seek to Fire Professor Who Dared to Criticize Transgender Movement

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Students are calling for the firing of a Boise State University political scientist who criticized feminism and the transgender rights movement. Posters reading “Fire Scott Yenor” have emerged all over campus in the wake of his Aug. 2 op-ed in the Daily Signal, titled “Transgender Activists Are Seeking to Undermine Parental Rights.” The posters, first reported…

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Princeton University Celebrated Constitution Day with a Lecture Titled ‘F%*# Free Speech’

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Students of the fine, 271-year-old ivy league institution of Princeton University – which was originally founded as a college to train ministers, and whose early presidents include Johnathon Whitherspoon, a key figure in America’s founding from whose pulpit came some of the most persuasive sermons lauding the virtues of freedom, and who would sign the Declaration of Independence – were treated to a presentation Monday to celebrate Constitution Day. Provocatively titled, “F%*# Free Speech,” the lecture was delivered by Professor Carolyn Rouse, who Chairs the Anthropolgy Department and is also the Director of the Program in African Studies. Campus Reform has reported on this professor in the past for her work on a project called ‘Trumplandia,’ were Rouse asserts she will not consume any news programming whatsoever – except for the Sunday New York Times – and rely solely on what other people tell her is news. As a part of her remarks Monday, Rouse contended that “the academy has never promoted free speech as a central value.” Campus Reform reports: Language is partial. It relies on context for comprehensibility, and can have implications that go far beyond simply hurting somebody’s feelings. Put simply, speech is costly. So, contrary to…

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Victor Ashe Commentary: Free Speech Showdown Coming to Knoxville When Douglas Henry State Museum Commission Committee Meets in September

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Tennessee Star

  The recent August 15 meeting of the Joint Committee on Rules and Regs chaired by State Rep Jerry Faison and State Senator Mike Bell is already having an impact on the previously little known Douglas Henry State Museum Commission which is next scheduled to meet on Monday morning at 10 October 9 at the Knoxville Zoo in East Tennessee. The meeting is open to the public. There is also a bylaws committee meeting on September 14 in Knoxville which will attempt to revise the current bylaws which created so much controversy about free speech. They will submit new bylaws for the Commission to vote on in October. Before you start commenting on this meeting being held at the Zoo after all the issues the Commission has faced, you should recognize the Zoo in Knoxville is well worth viewing. It is a real tourist attraction in Knoxville. Almost 500,000 people a year visit. When I served as Mayor of Knoxville we were and are very proud of what has been accomplished there. The actual meeting will be near the entrance and the gift shop. While the Zoo is not art or history, it is a well maintained and operated facility…

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Victor Ashe Commentary: An Assault on Free Speech Was Thwarted Yesterday by the Tennessee General Assembly

Tennessee Star Staff
Tennessee Star

  The Joint Legislative Committee on Rules and Regs of the Tennessee General Assembly met Tuesday, August 15 at the Legislative Plaza to consider the new bylaws of the Douglas Henry State Museum Commission. While no vote was taken, it was clear that the bipartisan committee was genuinely disturbed by what it heard. Chaired by State Rep Jeremy Faison, the committee debated for some time with Alexander Rieger from the AG’s staff and Commission Chair Tom Smith on whether these revised bylaws were simply policies or actually rules. Rieger appeared very unsure of himself and perplexed by the questions posed to him. He appeared to lack self confidence in his own legal opinions. While, this question of policy vs. rules may seem arcane to many, the practical effect is that the Museum Commission with policies may proceed on its own and with rules it must secure approval from the General Assembly to enact them. I argued that regardless of whether it is policy or rules, sound judgment and desire to listen to lawmakers would strongly suggest that the Commission should defer to the lawmakers and seek common ground. Otherwise, it is going to be a rocky and turbulent time for…

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Louisiana Governor Vetoes Bill To Curb Protests Against Controversial College Speakers

Wendy Wilson

  Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards has vetoed a bipartisan bill that sought to protect controversial speakers on college campuses. The bill, which passed overwhelmingly in the state legislature, was a response to protests by college students across the country against speakers they viewed as offensive, many of them conservatives. Some protests have turned violent, such as one at Middlebury College in Vermont. The legislation would have asked colleges to establish disciplinary measures to punish hecklers and violent protesters, reports WORLD magazine. The Democratic governor said June 27 that the legislation was “unnecessary and overly burdensome” and would “only frustrate the goals it purports to achieve,” according to The Times-Picayune. But free speech advocates said his veto was shortsighted because it ignores the “hecklers veto.” The bill passed by the legislature was “significantly watered-down” compared to an earlier version that called for stiffer penalties for disrupting speakers, according to the The Times-Picayune. The bill was sponsored by House Republican Caucus Chairman Lance Harris of Alexandria, who said he modeled his proposal after an Arizona law that passed last year. Republicans in several other states have proposed similar measures.  

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UC Berkeley Tries to Dismiss Free Speech Lawsuit

Tennessee Star Staff

The University of California, Berkeley is trying to dismiss a free speech lawsuit filed following the cancellation of Ann Coulter’s speech at the school in April. UC Berkeley attorneys—including Janet Napolitano, system president of the University of California, and Nicholas Dirks, chancellor of UC Berkeley—insist the claims made by Young America’s Foundation and the Berkeley College…

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