Freedom Of Speech

One morning in May 2008, an eighth-grader walked into Janice Hart's office at a Beverly Hills school crying. She was upset and humiliated and couldn't possibly go to class, the girl told the counselor. The night before, a classmate had posted a video on YouTube with a group of other eighth-graders bad-mouthing her, calling her "spoiled," a "brat" and a "slut." Text and instant messages had been flying since. Half the class must have seen it by now, she told Hart. Hart took the problem to the vice principal and principal, who took it to a district administrator, who asked the district's lawyers what they could do about it. In the end, citing "cyber-bullying" concerns, school officials suspended the girl who posted the video for two days.

Let's stipulate that you don't have to be a thug, racist or fool to oppose taxpayer-supported grants to illegal-immigrant college students. Let's agree, meanwhile, that you can support financial aid to those undocumented migrant students without being a squishy-headed traitor. The California Dream Act raises thorny issues about whether non-citizens should get government benefits at a time when many state services are being slashed. The arguments on the two sides are powerful enough that Gov. Jerry Brown has been taking weeks to decide whether to sign the legislation.

Bulgarians celebrated their newly revived freedom of speech Sunday by gathering in parks to discuss political ideas, including the creation of opposition parties to challenge the ruling Communist regime. Meanwhile, a popular discussion program returned to national television Sunday night, presenting a series of provocative interviews sometimes critical of the government.

Facing increased scrutiny at home and a war crimes indictment abroad, Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir stood before his National Assembly on Tuesday and promised a freer, more inclusive government. Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court in connection with massacres in Darfur, spoke just days after attending ceremonies marking South Sudan's independence from his own Khartoum-based government. Sudan is entering a "second republic" comprising mainly Muslim Arabs, and people will be able to vote on a new constitution crafted with widespread participation, he said.

Who has free speech and who doesn't? In theory, we all do. But in reality, an awful lot of us don't. I would love to live in a world where we could say anything about anybody. So would--I imagine--a Marine staff sergeant from Camp Pendleton who just got disciplined for shooting off his mouth. And so would--I imagine--a Los Angeles cop who just got disciplined because she took a perceived cheap shot against the chief. Do military personnel have free speech? Do police officers have free speech?

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong vowed to relax Singapore's tight rules on public gatherings in his first policy speech since he was sworn in 10 days earlier. Singapore, which bars demonstrations, gatherings or speeches without a permit under strict free-speech controls, will allow unlicensed public talks if they are held indoors and avoid "sensitive subjects" such as race and religion, Lee said.

W ithout freedom of thought there can be no such thing as wisdom, and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech; which is the right of every man as far as by it he does not hurt and control the right of another: and this is the only check it ought to suffer, and the only bounds it ought to know. --Benjamin Franklin, 1722 (at age 16) Warning: This column contains words and ideas that may be offensive to some readers.

The head of the Palestine Liberation Organization's Washington office said Wednesday that he will sue to block the State Department from shutting down his operation and vowed, "I will not leave." "I will not abandon my rights to freedom of speech and freedom of expression," said Hassan Rahman, director of the Palestinian Information Office, which the department said Tuesday must close within 30 days.

An Asahi newspaper reporter shot to death, another seriously wounded. The Japanese translator of Salman Rushdie's "The Satanic Verses" stabbed to death. The mayor of Nagasaki shot and seriously wounded after he declared the late emperor "partly responsible" for World War II. The director of a movie critical of gangsters slashed in the face and neck.

Stanford University, joining a national trend, has adopted new rules against racial and sexual harassment by students, officials announced Friday. However, as at other campuses, opponents contend that the regulations violate freedom of speech.

One version of the video game "Postal 2" features an easily angered "postal guy" with dark glasses and a high-powered rifle. He wanders through town killing everyone he sees, leaving them bloody and mutilated. A trip to the library turns into carnage of mass shootings and blazing fires. Another features young girls being struck by a shovel as they beg for mercy. The player can then pour gasoline over them, set them on fire and urinate on them. Despite admittedly being disturbed by what he saw in "Postal 2," a federal judge struck down, on free-speech grounds, a California law that would forbid the sale or rental of such grossly violent video games to those younger than 18. On Tuesday, when much of the nation is focused on the midterm elections to Congress, the Supreme Court will hear California's appeal and debate whether the states can restrict the sale of violent games to children and teenagers.

Despite free-speech concerns, Supreme Court justices sounded sympathetic Wednesday to a lawsuit filed by the father of a Marine killed in Iraq whose funeral was picketed by protesters with signs like, "Thank God for IEDs. " The justices appeared inclined to set a limit to freedom of speech when ordinary citizens are targeted with especially personal and hurtful attacks. The 1st Amendment says the government may not restrict free speech, but it is less clear when it shields speakers from private lawsuits.

It's called "libel tourism" — the practice of bringing a defamation lawsuit against an author or publisher in a country with less robust protections of free speech than those afforded Americans by the 1st Amendment and Supreme Court decisions. Many Americans may be surprised to learn that a leading destination for libel tourists is the United Kingdom. The United States can't prevent Britain or other countries from making it easier to win libel suits that might not succeed in this country, where even publications that include errors have received 1st Amendment protection.

UC Irvine officials recently recommended a one-year suspension for the Muslim Student Union, the group that appears to have been behind the disruption of a speech by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren on the campus in February. It's an apt punishment for what was clearly an inappropriate protest, although it will satisfy neither conservative politicians such as Assemblyman Chuck DeVore (R-Irvine), who wrote a letter to the university's chancellor urging that the group be permanently banned, nor defenders of the Muslim group, who think the students were only exercising their free-speech rights.

Overturning a century-old restriction, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that corporations may spend as much as they want to sway voters in federal elections. In a landmark 5-4 decision, the court's conservative bloc said that corporations have the same right to free speech as individuals and, for that reason, the government may not stop corporations from spending to help their favored candidates. The ruling -- which will presumably apply as well to labor unions and other organizations -- is likely to have an impact on this year's congressional elections.

The British government announced Tuesday that it would ban an Islamic group that had sparked widespread public revulsion over its intention to demonstrate in a town known for paying tribute to soldiers slain in Afghanistan and Iraq. Home Secretary Alan Johnson said Islam4UK would be outlawed under a measure allowing the government to ban organizations deemed to advocate or glorify terrorism. He said the move was "not a course we take lightly" but was necessary to tackle violent extremism.

Five months after her death, a Cal State Los Angeles journalism instructor on Monday won a freedom-of-speech lawsuit over her firing as publisher of the campus newspaper. A Superior Court jury voted 10 to 2 to award $22,983 in damages to the parents of Joan Zyda, who died last August, three years after filing the suit. "The jury sent a clear message that her 1st Amendment rights had been violated," said her attorney, Robert C. Moest, after the verdict was read.

Comedian Martin Lawrence has titled his first film "You So Crazy," after the name of his national stand-up comedy tour. But the Motion Picture Assn. of America ratings board, which has slapped the film with an NC-17 rating, thinks it's more like "You So Nasty." Lawrence held a press conference Tuesday at Manhattan's Omni Berkshire Hotel to announce his appeal of the rating. The appeal is scheduled to be heard Feb. 23, nine days before the film opens in New York and Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles City Council has long been accused of casting votes to curry favor with campaign contributors, lobbying firms and other well-connected players at City Hall. Council members deny that such activities occur. But even if they did, would such behavior violate the public's right to free speech? That's an argument being considered by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, where two sign companies are suing to strike down the city's 2002 ban on new billboards and multistory "supergraphics" -- images stretched across the sides of buildings.

The boisterous Venice Beach boardwalk could become considerably more sedate pending a new edict from Los Angeles city leaders to the drum circles, DJs and would-be guitar heroes who perform on the famed pedestrian strip: Quiet down after dark. Facing more than 500 noise complaints from boardwalk neighbors over the last 20 months, the Los Angeles City Council directed city lawyers Tuesday to draft new rules, including a ban on musical instruments and amplified sound between sunset and 9 a.m. Council members also hope to grant new authority to the Los Angeles Police Department to ensure that performers who attract big crowds rotate in and out of shared spaces.