From fork-admin@xent.com Mon Sep 30 17:56:30 2002 Return-Path: Delivered-To: yyyy@localhost.example.com Received: from localhost (jalapeno [127.0.0.1]) by jmason.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 966B716F1E for ; Mon, 30 Sep 2002 17:53:59 +0100 (IST) Received: from jalapeno [127.0.0.1] by localhost with IMAP (fetchmail-5.9.0) for jm@localhost (single-drop); Mon, 30 Sep 2002 17:53:59 +0100 (IST) Received: from webnote.net (mail.webnote.net [193.120.211.219]) by dogma.slashnull.org (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g8UEYCK02639 for ; Mon, 30 Sep 2002 15:34:12 +0100 Received: from xent.com ([64.161.22.236]) by webnote.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id PAA20708 for ; Mon, 30 Sep 2002 15:14:55 +0100 Received: from lair.xent.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by xent.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id A6AE52940BD; Mon, 30 Sep 2002 07:14:09 -0700 (PDT) Delivered-To: fork@example.com Received: from mta5.snfc21.pbi.net (mta5.snfc21.pbi.net [206.13.28.241]) by xent.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4516C29409E for ; Mon, 30 Sep 2002 07:13:26 -0700 (PDT) Received: from endeavors.com ([66.126.120.174]) by mta5.snfc21.pbi.net (iPlanet Messaging Server 5.1 (built May 7 2001)) with ESMTP id <0H3900H7P8UF84@mta5.snfc21.pbi.net> for Fork@xent.com; Mon, 30 Sep 2002 07:13:27 -0700 (PDT) From: Gregory Alan Bolcer Subject: Re: A moment of silence for the First Amendment (fwd) To: Fork@xent.com Reply-To: gbolcer@endeavors.com Message-Id: <3D9859B9.3A7F80C2@endeavors.com> Organization: Endeavors Technology, Inc. MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en] (X11; U; IRIX 6.5 IP32) Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Accept-Language: en, pdf References: Sender: fork-admin@xent.com Errors-To: fork-admin@xent.com X-Beenthere: fork@example.com X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.11 Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Friends of Rohit Khare List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2002 07:03:37 -0700 X-Spam-Status: No, hits=-5.6 required=5.0 tests=AWL,EMAIL_ATTRIBUTION,KNOWN_MAILING_LIST,NOSPAM_INC, RCVD_IN_MULTIHOP_DSBL,RCVD_IN_UNCONFIRMED_DSBL,REFERENCES, T_URI_COUNT_0_1,USER_AGENT_MOZILLA_XM,X_ACCEPT_LANG version=2.50-cvs X-Spam-Level: Michael wrote: > > http://www.post-gazette.com/columnists/20020905brian5.asp I thought this nekkid URL was going to be about the infringement of 1st amendment rights for broadcasters and proposed campaign finanice restrictions preventing them from making money on advertisements that are deemed thinly veiled campaign contributions by some arbitrary government board. As it was posted to "discussion" I thought there'd be some. Instead it's a Post-Gazette column by Brian O'Neill lamenting the fact that some people know how to fill out a permit so that they can take advantage of their right to peaceable assembly. Obviously he's poking fun at the idea that specific groups get specific "zones" and that it's not up to the police to decide what messages and signs get put into what zones to most expediently keep order. The problem is that politics have gotten so muddied nowadays, that shouting down and unpeaceably disrupting political rallies that you don't agree with has become common practice. The courts have constantly ruled that there are some restrictions on the first amendment. They teach you that your very first year of law school. I think that given the information as laid out by the story, Mr. O'Neill has confused free speech with action. Free speech or even protected speech as practiced by almost every American seems to involve the ability to communicate an idea to an unknown audience. Action involves directing a specific comment to a specific well-defined individual or audience that has immediate, harmful, and sometimes physical effects that is easily forseeable by any reasonable person. I think Bill Neel of Butler needs to go back to school as obviously he must have been sleeping in his civics class or else they didn't teach civics in mini-guantanamo, OH 65 years ago. Greg