California College Tells Student He Can't Hand Out Copies Of The Constitution On Constitution Day
from the SHUT-UP-AND-RETURN-TO-THE-DESIGNATED-'FREE-SPEECH-ZONE' dept
As an American with First Amendment rights, you'd probably assume that a "Free Speech Zone" would look something like this:
The blue on that map should represent areas where you can exercise your right to free speech. Unfortunately, for many college students, their "Free Speech Zone" shrinks considerably when on campus. One out of every six major colleges have designated "Free Speech Zones" where students are "permitted" to "enjoy" this Constitutional right, and even then there are restrictions. In these colleges, exercising your right to free speech means asking permission at least a couple of days in advance as well as having the administration "approve" your speech.
The latest example of confined and controlled speech comes to us courtesy of Modesto Junior College. As FIRE.org reports, a student found his exercise of free speech shut down on one of the worst days of the year for a college to assert its negative attitude towards the First Amendment.
In a stunning illustration of the attitude taken towards free speech by too many colleges across the United States, Modesto Junior College in California told a student that he could not pass out copies of the United States Constitution outside the student center on September 17, 2013—Constitution Day. Captured on video, college police and administrators demanded that Robert Van Tuinen stop passing out Constitution pamphlets and told him that he would only be allowed to pass them out in the college’s tiny free speech zone, and only after scheduling it several days or weeks ahead of time.After 10 minutes of handing out these pamphlets, Van Tuinen was approached by a campus police officer. After some discussion regarding the ridiculousness of shutting down free speech on Constitution Day and Van Tuinen's repeated assertion of his rights, the campus cop tells him to take it up with administration.
[The officer sends out a little cheap shot before Van Tuinen moves on, telling him, "Look at you. You're shaking." This is a common cop tactic designed to both a) cast suspicion on the person and b) assert the officer's control of the situation. The fact that it's a byproduct of the fight-or-flight response is ignored. People speaking to armed authority figures will often appear nervous because that's how the human brain works. It's not solely a byproduct of fear or guilt. It's adrenaline being pumped with no available outlet.]
The response he receives from administration is no less ridiculous, considering it relies heavily on quoting policy rather than acknowledging the absurdity of shutting down free speech on Constitution Day. (As if it would be any less ridiculous on any other day of the year, but Constitution Day?)
Upon arriving at that office, Van Tuinen talks with administrator Christine Serrano, who tells him that because of “a time, place, and manner,” he can only pass out literature inside the “free speech area,” which she informs him is “in front of the student center, in that little cement area.” She asks him to fill out an application and asks to photocopy his student ID. Hauling out a binder, Serrano says that she has “two people on campus right now, so you’d have to wait until either the 20th, 27th, or you can go into October.” Van Tuinen protests that he wants to pass out the Constitution on Constitution Day, at which point Serrano dismissively tells him “you really don’t need to keep going on.”So, now everything's clear. In a nation where free speech is one of the foundations of society, an American in a public American college (founded by legislation and infused with public money via grants) is restricted to "that little cement area" (see below) -- and then only with advance notice and permission. Free speech possibly available in October -- get your reservation in now!
As FIRE's Robert Shibley points out, there's really no way Modesto Junior College could have handled this situation any worse than it did.
“Virtually everything that Modesto Junior College could do wrong, it did do wrong. It sent police to enforce an unconstitutional rule, said that students could not freely distribute literature, placed a waiting period on free speech, produced an artificial scarcity of room for free speech with a tiny ‘free speech area,’ and limited the number of speakers on campus to two at a time. This was outrageous from start to finish. Every single person at Modesto responsible for enforcing this policy should have known better.”Free speech isn't something you box up and dole out. It's the right of all citizens. Modesto Junior College should know this, being a public college, but has apparently decided it's much easier to avoid uncomfortable or unpopular speech by violating its students' First Amendment rights.
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Filed Under: colleges, constitution, free speech, free speech zone, modesto junior college, robert van tuinen
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Contacting MJC
http://org2.salsalabs.com/o/5896/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=15382
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WHAT IN THE ABSOLUTE FUCK.
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police just doing his job
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Re: police just doing his job
Your profession does not entitle you to abdicate your moral and ethical duties as a human being.
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Re: Re: police just doing his job
What would have been the repercussions to the officer if he didn't enforce the colleges policy?
He's in a tough spot (Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't) we shouldn't go around attacking the messenger as you know. We should instead be pushing to remove the colleges "Free Speech" zoning. Besides, there's no saying that he DIDN'T also think that the rule was ridiculous cause any sensible human being can see that quite clearly.
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Re: Re: Re: police just doing his job
If he did think the rule was ridiculous, then enforcing it speaks very poorly for his character. Someone with integrity would have refused to do so and been relieved that they no longer have to work for a bunch of scumbags.
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That's no excuse. I understand it -- believe me, I've been in that position quite a few times in my life -- but it's rarely actually true in an absolute sense.
What may be true is that losing a job is a tremendous sacrifice and leads to struggle and strife. But, nonetheless, doing something that you consider immoral just because you can't afford to lose the paycheck makes you a hypocrite at best, and equally culpable at worst.
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Re: Re: Re: police just doing his job
I've use similar tactics in my job as a security officer. I eventually moved on to jobs with less opportunities for me to work as an extension for oppressive institutions.
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Re: Re: Re: police just doing his job
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Why should we not attack the messenger?
Besides, he's not just a messenger, he plays a vital role in this - he is in fact enforcing the policy. Which leaves even fewer reasons not to attack him...
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Nürnberg 1946
If you're in uniform, it does, because you're taught that your moral and ethical duties as a human being are secondary to The Law.
And in third-world dictatorial hellholes, the laws only apply to the guys who don't wear the uniform. Like in the People's Democratic Republic of Free America.
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Re: police just doing his job
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Re: Re: police just doing his job
On a related subject, should the thoroughly unconstitutional, anti-American Shield Law go into effect, the state will use its unchecked authority to intimidate and bully so-called independent journalists (who don't act in lockstep with state and corporate-owned MSM propaganda) in much the same way.
Allowing the state to define things such as "free speech zones," journalism or anything else forebodes trouble.
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Re: police just doing his job
By the way, free speech means not having to jump through hoops to reply on a blog post about free speech (having to give name, email, and MAYBE get added to an unwanted email list -- even if you didn't check the box?)
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More to the point, it's the school administration that should be subject to investigation and loss of their jobs. They have no business in academia, since they have zero understanding or interest in little things like history, law, and government. And especially in basic Constitutional rights. If we're going to direct scorn on anyone, it should be the top administration. Nothing less will do.
BTW, great intro to the story with the map and all. Makes the point beautifully.
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While this is the first time I've heard of such blatant disregard of free speech issues, my Uni required us to fill out "party permits" or the cops would bust in and kick everyone out. What constitutes a "Party" is up to the officer. Too many people, well that's a party.
That's a violation of the First Amendment, but the reason no one does anything is because they would find something else to charge everyone with. That friend of a friend that you don't know, but is there. If he's under 21 and brought a flask, everyone's screwed. It doesn't matter if the flask was in a backpack and no one knew it was there.
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So, if the asshat starts something, he needs to lose his status as an officer of the law and be turned into
a criminal, and deal with him as such by throwing him to the glass-shard covered ground and arresting him with fuzzy hand-cuffs.
That's what he would do once he wound you up and incited you to riot. Cops seem to feel they have power, power to do whatever the fuck they want - disabuse them of this fantasy, in the strongest way possible. Take them down, arrest them via citizens arrest, with full video, explaining why you are arresting them (for inciting to riot) and refusal to act in a manner consistent with being an officer of the law.
Next step, talk to your congress-critters about re-working the laws to turn cops/feds that break the law into criminals. Any laws - this includes the full constitution.
Cops/Feds/Judges/Attornies General/Elected Officials/Administrators that violate the constitution deserve a one way ticket to gitmo, there to stay until the day they die.
College level peons that violate the constitution just need to be blacklisted, publicly tarred, feathered, tied to the back of an ass and driven out of town.
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Uhh - Fuck that - the entire administration needs to resign
Every college administrator of every college that even attempts to restrict freedom of speech in any way has to have an immediate cessation of all federal, state and local funds.
All grants, terminated.
All loans, terminated.
Every administrator fired, blacklisted and never able to work in education ever again.
Period.
Anything less and well, maybe we should just enforce our right to bear arms and stand outside these colleges and use our rights of citizen arrest to take them in ourselves.
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staged
He obviously knew that and that is why he was recording things.
All he would have needed to do was register and the would have let him do what ever.
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Re: staged
The First Amendment does not say Freedom of Speech requires you to register ahead of time.
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Free speech doesn't kill people directly, though it can incite people to kill. Religion, if done by moderates and not extremists doesn't kill, as seen by the billions of people who practice religion and don't kill others, free press, so long as it's the truth, doesn't seem to kill anything, other than a politicians career, and organizing protests/marches, so long as they're not violent, doesn't hurt anyone.
And... Guns, guns injure, maim, paralyze, and kill, a gun's only purpose is to bring harm to others.
I think there *IS* a big difference between the 1st (most important amendment) and the 2nd (nowhere near as important amendment) amendments.
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Well, other than when the display of a gun causes a criminal to flee. Or it stops them from hurting someone else...
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>Well, other than when the display of a gun causes a criminal to flee. Or it stops them from hurting someone else...
Or to pull out a bigger gun to return fire.
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I don't want to be hurt in a car crash so I'll drive an bigass armored car, that will probably hurt others in a crash... but not me!
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: staged
I don't want to be hurt in a car crash so I'll drive an bigass armored car, that will probably hurt others in a crash... but not me!
So I assume that you support the total disarmament of the police?
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Guns don't have to do any of the things you describe, it's all about how they're used. I don't understand the disconnect with people who share your viewpoint.
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But guns, really, what is the primary thing a gun does? It fires bullets. What do those bullets do? Strike things. If it strikes a living thing, it causes harm.
The primary purpose of words is to communicate.
I don't understand the disconnect with people who share your viewpoint.
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All of this notwithstanding, the 2nd Amendment was written so as to prevent government from infringing upon your inalienable right to self-defense. The 2nd Amendment is the bedrock of the Constitution, the most important of all, as it ensures all other rights -- if it goes, kiss the rest of your Constitutional rights goodbye forever.
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Right to privacy and the 4th Amendment? Torn to shreds by the NSA. Sure glad we have guns!
5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th Amendments? Huh, heard Manning was in solitary confinement for over 2 years before sentenced to 35 years. Sure glad we have guns! Oh! And let's not forget all the settlements out of court that prevent many trials from happening. Sure am glad that guns are protecting us!
*flat stare*
seriously, I'm not saying take away all the guns, but the 2nd amendment is NOT that fucking important of an amendment.
I would rather take the guns away if it meant giving us back full access to the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th amendments.
And I'm someone who lives in an area where you can take time off from school or work to go hunting legally.
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Its too bad you don't excersize that priviledge.. just guessing. Ah, but then, you might get mauled by a constitutionalist excersizing constitutionalism in the woods!
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All power is derived from the people, not the other way around. As was once said, the 2A won't become necessary until they try and take it away.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: staged
*Deep breath*
Well... Tell me, what has the 2nd Amendment protected lately?
Other countries, France, Germany, Japan, Britain, Poland, they don't have the 2nd Amendment, they don't have the government going around left and right taking away their freedoms and becoming a fascist police state any faster than the U.S. is becoming.
Look, I'm not saying "take away the guns" like you seem to THINK I'm saying.
What I'm saying is that the 2nd Amendment is NOWHERE near as important as the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th amendments are.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: staged
And if we didn't have access to arms, it's safe to say our rights would be far more erroded than they currently are. You mention various European nations, yet all of them have greater restrictions on personal freedoms than the US, especially that Orwellian shithole known as the United Kingdom.
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Or use stolen guns to commit crimes?
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Whether or not the original AC believes it or not... it is important to understand that more than enough of the 'relevant' people do believe exactly this.
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Re: staged
Says someone, who like me, is exercising their right to speak anonymously, and without prior permission. Oh the irony!
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Re: staged
I'm sorry. Did you just condone what happened here? All he had to do was register? I'm sorry, that's not how the inalienable right of free speech works.
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Re: Re: staged
bada bing, bada boom....
If we can't laugh at ourselves we may as well just surrender to the Nazi's now... yes I goodwin'd it for good measure
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In Great Britain, you have to have a license to own a gun. We have very little gun crime, despite the frantic assertions I hear from right wingers from across the pond who only read the Murdoch and libertarian press.
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You may have little gun crime but you also have far more assault crimes than we do per capita and no means of self-defense should your government decide to turn the screws and take away whatever freedoms you have left.
Besides, gun crime here isn't the epidemic that the MSM portrays it as being. There are an est. 15,000 deaths by fireamrs per year, down from about 28,000 a couple decades ago. What of the tens of millions of responsible gun owners who don't commit crimes? Do you advocate for disarming them?
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The murder rate in the U.K. was lower than in the U.S. generally in the early 1900's when neither had significant legal impediments to firearms ownership, and, tellingly, than it was in New York state from 1911 onward when the Sullivan Act restricted gun ownership in New York, but His Majesty's subjects were free to own guns.
Likewise the murder rate in Russia is much higher than in the U.S. even though per capita private firearms ownership is about 1/10th that in the U.S. I suppose it's a great comfort to the relative of murdered Russians that it wasn't "gun crime".
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Freedom of speech and freedom of the press (pamphlets and copies of the Constitution are printed) only work when the protect speech and writing that someone objects to (as you evidently object to printed advocacy of morality or religion). I think the Framers of the Constitution thought it protected the advocacy of immorality and irreligion, even though they objected to those every bit as much as the biens pensants of turn of 21st century America object to morality and religion.
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Re: staged
More reading here:
http://www.popehat.com/2013/09/19/modesto-junior-college-obligingly-beclowns-itself-to-make -a-point-about-censorship/
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Re: staged
Did he stage the confrontation as you suggest? Perhaps. But whether he did or didn't is completely irrelevant and doesn't in any way alter the behavior of the administration or its' offensiveness.
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Re: staged
Private universities and colleges which limit free speech that is not disrupting classes deserve to be mocked and shamed. Public universities which do the same deserve to be mocked, shamed, *and* sued into submission to the First and Fourteenth Amendments, since their administrators and campus security personnel are agents of the state, and as such subject to the limits the Constitution places on the government.
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And we're already 500 in.
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I'm sure if it security stopped the Westboro Baptist from handing out literature. No one would be complaining.
For for pete's sake all he needed to do was follow proper procedures.
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I would complain. Loudly.
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No, no using that.
Because I will counter with this...
"First they came for speech I didn't like, so I said nothing. Then they came for speech that didn't affect me, so I said nothing. Now they come for my speech, but now no one can say anything."
For for pete's sake all he needed to do was follow proper procedures.
Middle of the day, not causing a riot, not endangering anyone's life, not saying anything cruel or mean...
I'd say he did.
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The procedures you refer to are NOT "proper".
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Yes.
I absolutely would. What the literature says is irrelevant.
You mean the procedures designed to limit his ability to speak? He did the right thing here -- his whole point was to put the institutions unconstitutional policies in the spotlight.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Socialist_Party_of_America_v._Village_of_Skokie (neo-Nazi march in a Jewish community protected)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.A.V._v._City_of_St._Paul (law against cross burning unconstitutional)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snyder_v._Phelps (Westboro's picketing a funeral protected)
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Yes, and that is exactly what he did, he followed procedure for exercising his right to free speech. He stood there and spoke and handed out literature without anyone's permission. That IS proper procedure under our Constitutional government. What the college and the police officer did was the violation of proper procedure. The college and the police were also not "just doing their job." Part of their job includes obeying the law, and the law (in the Constitution) says that the student had every right to freely speak WITHOUT requiring anyone's permission.
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Which they are quite likely to win (free money!).
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How short sighted and ignorant.
Might I suggest a class or two in history?
Yes!
Then you would be wrong! I despise the Westboro Baptist Church, but if you take away their rights today, you can be sure someone will be taking your rights away tomorrow.
Yeah, I think that has been said somewhere before as well. Just register, that is all we ask... Well wear this yellow star... ... ...
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No, our very core, the Constitution and Bill of Rights has been under attack for DECADES, and we just let it happen.
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Contact Administration
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Re: Contact Administration
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my reactions to this article
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Up next...
Ah the wonders of our sellout politicians both repubilcats and democons
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Strangely enough
The zone's old location is a large courtyard that was sandwiched between the ground level of cafeteria/student union building and the current location of the social science division's office. Today there's a rather nice looking fountain in front this courtyard. There are several concrete barriers dividing the area in half, not to mention the outdoor hallways on the second floor that look down on the courtyard below.
I've actually stopped in that area a few times before heading up to the room for my stat course and taken a quick look around. There's sort of an intimidating "obey the rules or else!" vibe lingering in the atmosphere.
It should be noted that this courtyard was specifically set up as the college's Free speech/protest zone during the 1960s during the protests over the Vietnam war, and now it's simply an outdoor area for people who want to eat outside the cafeteria (they've got some nice concrete picnic tables and benches now).
Based on what I've witnessed over past few years, if my college still has a designated free speech area, it's currently located in front of the fountain which sits in front of the old courtyard. This means that a group exercising the right to free speech, that the area the college wants them to do it is located in the center of the campus, so it's pretty much guaranteed that if you're trying to get from one side of the college to the other, you'll at least see the folks who are exercising their First Amendment rights, if nothing else. Although the only groups I've seen in the area in front of the fountain that were handing out pamphlets of any kind were a bunch of student from the college's local Democrat group, and some nice folks (probably) from the Mormon/LDS Temple across the street from campus.
But I digress.
Looking at the map of MJC's campus, it looks like the "Free Speech area" was placed in the middle of campus, but situated so that it's effectively out of the way and students passing through the middle of campus to get to classes won't pay any attention to folks exercising their free speech. Maybe it's some kind of "seen but not heard" type deal by the college.
Should be interesting to see where this goes.
As the Zen Master says, "We'll see."
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I guess it's not the 60's anymore
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Re: I guess it's not the 60's anymore
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Nip it in the bud.
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Re: Nip it in the bud.
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The Boundaries of Tolerance of Actively Unpopular Free Speech.
The University of Cincinnati has recently got caught up in its own "free speech zone" controversy. If Cincinnati could take Brother Max in its stride, it can surely manage something better than a "free speech zone." How are the mighty fallen!
(*) About twenty feet down, onto a concrete driveway.
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http://www.brojed.org/maxlynch.php
http://www.topix.com/forum/city/terre-haute-in/TN76H0FETRON NS2FP
http://reason.com/blog/2013/09/12/dont-cage-my-speech-univ-of-cincinnati-s
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Free what? Popcorn?
The US Constitution is old, and not any good any more.
Besides, who cares what you want to say? We'll let you have your say when we think you're fit to say it, and not any sooner.
Now go back to your seat and take more notes on Fascism.
Exam tomorrow!
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Free Speech Zones at College
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Re: Free Speech Zones at College
There are already laws in place for disturbing the peace and disorderly conduct. You may want to read the comments here again and the comments on the post at Popehat for more about this particular subject and how this applies. Theose comments better tackle this point specifcally.
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Re: Free Speech Zones at College
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modesto_Junior_College
In addition, we are talking about a _college_, which is not supposed to treat students as children, and therefore does not have the kinds of prerogatives of exclusion that, say, a middle school might have. As a general principle, a community college campus is open to the public. A stranger is welcome to go to any of the academic departments and ask to talk to someone about something, and, within reason, he can get a free scientific consultation. Modesto Junior College is not proposing to go into lock-down, issuing passes over the internet, which would be required to come on campus, via a check-point. It is merely proposing to ration political free-speech, to cease to provide an Agora. Like a shopping center, the college has apparently decided that unauthorized political speech is bad. Look at the "campus clubs" list. See in particular the entry for the College Republicans. Also, see the "film and lecture" list.... and the performing arts advertisement.
http://www.mjc.edu/current/activities/clubs.html
http://www.mjc.edu/community/res ources/cep/filmlecture/index.html
http://arts.events.mjc.edu/
You can do almost anything at Modesto Junior College-- provided that you have an official adviser, a professor willing to sponsor and supervise you. The man who sponsors the College Republicans teaches electronics.
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This Is All Backwards
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New World Order
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Higher Learning
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Constitution Handout
Go pedal your propaganda in some other country.
JD
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Constitutional Rights
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MJC is......
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Modesto JC Anti-Constitutional Behavior
We need more "confrontations" like this to shine light on the cockroaches who under the guise of preventing "bullying" and other acts, have turned colleges into iron curtain age protectorates allowing speech to those who have the "permission" of the authorities!
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Whole Country is a Free Speech Zone
It should be fairly easy to recognize who the domestic enemies of the Constitution are.
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Free speech
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Turn it around
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Just... Just Learn Some Law
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