FW: [Peace-discuss] Fw: Lou Dobbs is dangerous ('murder music' as hate speech)

[C. G. Estabrook]

The issue was shutting up the middle-of-the-road common-tater Lou Dobbs because 
he indulged in "hate speech."  I suggested that that was a false category, 
conjured from identity politics (politics as etiquette, as someone has said).

The notion of "hate speech" seems constructed to get around the fact that the US 
federal government and state governments are broadly forbidden by the First 
Amendment from restricting speech. In the uniquely free society of the US, 
governments cannot punish the content of speech, subject to a few recognized 
exceptions such as defamation and incitement to riot. Even in cases where speech 
encourages illegal violence, instances of incitement qualify as criminal only if 
the threat of violence is imminent. This strict standard prevents prosecution of 
many cases of incitement, including prosecution of those advocating violent 
opposition to the government, and those exhorting violence against racial, 
ethnic, or gender minorities.

Soi-disant liberals have tried to get around this standard by criminalizing 
"hate speech" in various ways.  Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 
employers may sometimes be prosecuted for tolerating "hate speech" by their 
employees, if that speech contributes to a broader pattern of harassment 
resulting in a "hostile or offensive working environment" for other employees.

Similarly, both public and private educational institutions in the United States 
have frequently been pressured to adopt rules prohibiting stigmatization on the 
basis of attributes such as race, sexual orientation, religion, disability, or 
national origin. In the 1980s and 1990's, more than 350 public universities 
adopted "speech codes" regulating discriminatory speech by faculty and students.

Happily, these codes have not fared well in the courts, where they are 
frequently overturned as violations of the First Amendment. See, e.g., Doe v. 
Michigan (1989), UWM Post v. Board of Regents of University of Wisconsin (1991), 
Dambrot v. Central Michigan University (1995), Corry v. Stanford (1995).  --CGE


Ron Szoke wrote:
> Groan.  I suggest going back to the pre-mire issue about Mr. Dobbs before people 
> with various other issues started free-associating.
> 
> -- Ron
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