Attorney General Jeff Sessions… telling the small, invitation-only crowd that his agency would “enforce federal law, defend free speech, and protect students’ free expression from whatever end of the political spectrum it may come.”
The Sessions Political Spectrum™:
White KKK member <—> White Neonazi <–> White alt.right blogger <–> White Republican
When I was grad student at the University of Michigan 35 years ago, there were regularly guys on soapboxes going on about Christ. A few people at any one time would stop to watch and then walk on. Nobody’s feathers were ruffled.
If Richard Spencer wants to speak then he needs to post a security deposit. If there are no damages (physical) he gets his deposit back. He is then safe to say anything he wants but he will be responsible for consequences of his messaging.
As long as the gentleman isn’t forcing people to take fliers and sticks to his alloted space. I don’t see a problem, and I am an agostic. Of course, others are free to shout, “bollocks” at him.
No information is given about the nature of the complaints and the line drawn between being made uncomfortable and hate speech is often tenuous. Was the gentlemen advocating against LGBT? We’re not told.
And I’m assuming that a Muslim member of the student body who wishes to likewise harange his (it’s almost always his) non-captive audience about the many joys of fundamentalist Islam and the apostacy of the infidels as well and the innate degenerate state of America would be likewise allowed to freely do so.
“DOJ concurred in its statement of interest, pointing to decades of court precedent falling strongly in favor of strong free speech protections in public spaces…”
“…like football stadiums during the national anthem.”
…probably a publicly funded stadium at that.
(Oh yeah… don’t forget the the $5.4M paid to the various NFL teams for ‘sponsored’ military displays. Of course those are now delivered gratis.)
Doctor Diag?
Crazy Mary?
Sessions is suing on behalf of a Russian evangelical? That’s what Trump’s hackers are calling themselves these days? How in the heck did he get into this country during Trump’s travel ban and why does he have my social security number?
You obviously were never accosted by a Moonie in an airport during the 70’s. Evangelicals can be like leaches who can’t take a “No” to their Amens.
Sessions should give this guy a booth at the Atlanta Airport where he belongs in the Deep South. Get him away from the Philosophy Department where they have enough problems trying to figure out if God even exists much less exists in such a bastardized form.
I wish he were more concerned about giving black Americans free lives than giving racists free speech.
These guys are more like the old men you used to see on the street corner carrying a sign saying The World Was Coming to an End. Repent. Harmless until you realize your wallet is missing.
There is nothing harmless about giving out literature that calls women harlots and gays perverts. It’s downright Third Reich.
The US is a police state that every black is born into and which many young whites are beginning to realize they’re the next target in the 21st century Trump wants to build.
Yeah. Without that knowledge, this scene needs an explanation.
You could hurt yourself trying to reconcile the Trump administration’s views on free speech. Unless, of course, you keep in mind he and the AG are racists.
I’ll believe it when I see Sessions file an amicus brief for the Satanic Temple. But not holding my breath for this lying bastard to come honest…
Without knowing the details it’s awfully hard to figure out a position on this one. Remember how the anti-choice hooligans used to claim they were “counseling” women who went into planned parenthood even as they took pictures of their license plates?
Most likely. I tried to find a news article on what drew the complaints against him and came up empty. All of the news articles, even from non-right wing sources such as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution simply describe him as having been evangelizing and drawing complaints. However, a few sites noted that the lawsuit was filed on his behalf by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a group the Southern Poverty Law Center describes as “virulently anti-gay”. Even the DOJ’s statement of interest doesn’t seem to spell out what was being said or what the complaints were. I’m definitely not a lawyer, but at least in a non-legal sense I could see a fine line where free speech crosses over into outright harassment and disturbing the peace. I think it all really depends on what was said, how he conducted himself and what the complaints were but no one, including the DOJ, has spelled that out. I could see both sides potentially having compelling arguments here. The more insidious thing to me is the rank hypocrisy of this position juxtaposed with the administration’s position on NFL players; it reeks of “we’ll defend free speech for conservatives” and a policy of using “free speech” as a cudgel to bash universities in a grossly political way.
No Moonies, alas. Only Mormons, and Jehovas’s Witnesses. Mostly very nice people, but all of them arguing from unsupported premises
My first thought was anti-LBGT. Perhaps more details will be revealed in the coming days.