May 30

Supreme Court doesn’t really need to protect free speech, does it?

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censorship small Supreme Court doesn’t really need to protect free speech, does it?

Student writes disparaging remarks about school administrators.

Administrators retaliate by banning her from running for student body government.

She sues.

Slam dunk right?  Government CAN’T shut you up. Right?

Not true, apparently, for Supreme Court nominee Sotomayor.  She sided with the government censors.

5 Responses to “Supreme Court doesn’t really need to protect free speech, does it?”

  1. Kevin Says:
    May 30th, 2009 at 9:21 am

    I think it was a reasonabl decision, based on existing precedent. Students have never had absolute free speech rights, and the advance of technology doesn’t change that.

  2. Ken Says:
    May 30th, 2009 at 9:45 am

    Glad you aren’t on the court. And bad precedent is bad precedent.
    Students don’t have an absolute right to speak and disrupt a class, that was the precedent she tried to shoe horn in. This happened away from school and was about administrators not a particular teacher.

    Bad rulling. Typicaly “I know what I want, I’ll contort law and precedent til I find it”.

  3. Kevin Says:
    May 30th, 2009 at 11:12 am

    The internet and the availablity of it on campus has blurred the line between what’s considered on-campus and off-campus activity. And what difference does it make if the comments were about a teacher or administrators?

    So if we disagree about one ruling then your’e ” glad I’m not on the court” ?
    Good luck finding a justice that agrees with you on everything. She’s no prize but if this is the best youv’e got you’d better keep digging.

  4. Ken Says:
    May 30th, 2009 at 11:49 am

    I’d take you on the court. Just not over this ruling.

    There is free speech on campus too. Last I checked. And it makes a BIG difference if the speech is about the governement, that is the ENTIRE point of the 1st amendment.

  5. TR Says:
    June 2nd, 2009 at 6:40 pm

    My two cents go with the mom. The court better find some malice, not just an opinion, before penalizing speech off campus, especially since the remarks were about public figures. After all, yelling fire when you’re not in the theater isn’t a crime.
    1st Amendment is not just about political speech, it’s about the government’s propensity to use its deep pockets to shut people up.
    Bureaucrats get used by activists to force people to shut up.