ACLU Challenges Law That Says Convicts Lose Free Speech Rights If Their Speech Upsets Crime Victims
from the free-speech-doesn't-equal-more-speech-for-some,-less-for-others dept
The ACLU is challenging a recently-passed Pennsylvania law that seeks to prevent convicts from publicly speaking or having their words published. The bill, hailed as "blatantly unconstitutional," was passed with overwhelming support by the Pennsylvania legislature in response to convicted murderer Mumia Abu-Jamal being invited to give a commencement speech at Goddard College.
The new law provides for "injunctive relief" against "conduct which perpetuates the continuing effect of the crime on the victim," including "temporary or permanent mental anguish." The law obviously targets free speech, as can easily be confirmed by the incident that prompted its creation. The wording used creates a chilling effect, if not the direct encouragement of prior restraint.
The ACLU maintains that the “Silencing Act” allows courts to “enjoin and penalize any speech or other conduct by an ‘offender’ (undefined) that causes ‘mental anguish’ to a personal injury crime ‘victim’ (broadly defined) or otherwise ‘perpetuates the continuing effect of the crime on the victim’ (not otherwise defined).”The ACLU is suing to have the law declared unconstitutional, citing the negative effect it will have on the free speech of those affected -- which obviously include the much-hated Abu-Jamal, but also others who have been incarcerated and wish to speak about their personal experiences.
The law can be applied to third parties, such as newspapers, which publish speech by anyone who has committed a “personal injury crime” in Pennsylvania. In fact, during discussion by the state’s House Judiciary Committee prior to passage, the committee’s counsel indicated the courts “would have broad power to stop a third party, who is the vessel of that conduct or speech, from delivering it or publishing that information.”
It makes it possible for the state to regulate speech based on content. Individuals and organizations have to guess whether the law covers their speech, which means there is a “chilling effect” against their freedom of expression. It imposes a “prior restraint on speech,” something which the Supreme Court has regarded as the “most serious and intolerable infringement on First Amendment rights.”
Steven Blackburn, Wayne Jacobs, Edwin Desamour and William Cobb, who were each convicted of “personal injury crimes” in Philadelphia County, are also plaintiffs.The filing [pdf link] also points to the ongoing issues at Prison Legal News, a monthly publication "95% written by current and former inmates." PLN is sitting on a submission by Abu-Jamal thanks to the legal threat posed by this law. City Paper senior staff editor Daniel Denvir is also quoted as saying his employer has held off on further reporting on wrongfully incarcerated inmates because of the so-called "Silencing Act."
“Since being released from prison, they have drawn on their personal experiences with the justice system to become community leaders working to reduce crime,” the complaint describes. “Through a combination of direct service and advocacy, they and the organizations they have founded and run have striven to help at-risk youth avoid lives of crime and to help those returning from prison reintegrate into their communities and avoid recidivism.
Public speaking—through presentations, lectures, panel appearances, media interviews, legislative testimony, documentaries and more—is a key component of their efforts.”
“Each of these four individuals reasonably fears that the Silencing Act will be used to enjoin or penalize such speech.”
As has been stated countless times before, the answer to speech you don't like is more speech, not less. Passing bad laws to shut up someone you'd rather not hear infringes on not only that person's rights, but anyone else whose speech falls under the wording of the law -- and this one is particularly broadly-written. The number of people who hold the power to preemptively strip away free speech include not only direct victims of personal crimes, but also children (and their legal guardians) who are "material witnesses," anyone related to the victim by a "third degree of consanguinity or affinity," anyone retaining a "common-law" relationship with the victim… even anyone living in the same household. The law also vaguely wanders around the term "victim," making it unclear whether actual criminal charges are needed. The law could reasonably be construed as covering those involved in civil actions only.
Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Vereb -- former police officer and crafter of the law -- made it perfectly clear that he felt a "hate-filled murderer" (Abu-Jamal) shouldn't be allowed to speak in a public forum. But that's where he should have left it. Vereb's opinion had been heard and noted. Others raised similar concerns, but Vereb actually held the power to do something about it. Because no one wanted to take the side of a convicted cop-killer, the bill passed out of the House unopposed and only 11 dissenting Senators voted against it when it rolled through that side of the legislature. Now, the law stands in the way of free speech in Pennsylvania, subjecting its citizens to censorship should they happen to be perpetrators of personal injury crimes… or simply providing them a platform.
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Filed Under: free speech, mumia abu-jamal, pennsylvania
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Ahh, politics
Politics is a dirty, dirty game.
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Re: Ahh, politics
We must defend every right including the ones people used to do things we disagree with or we have no standing to challenge the loss of the rest.
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Re: Ahh, politics
I am making the point if we go to the extreme version of a citizen gone bad via cop killing on 1 side we should consider the extreme version of the dirty cop being that of a sociopathic killer that gets away with it because he is a cop
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Wait, no, I don’t love that.
I despise it.
I feel for the victims of crimes, I really do. But their rights end where another person's rights begin—and despite whatever crimes Abu-Jamal committed, he is still a citizen of the United States of America and his fundamental rights are not (and should not be) rescinded when he is convicted of a crime. To suspend his rights because he is a convicted criminal is to enshrine such suspension of rights for all criminals into our legal system.
Censorship is a weapon. The legal system must be a shield against it.
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I think there are a lot of people who feel that once someone has committed a terrible crime, they shouldn't have any rights any more. Whether this is because they believe that that is a different kind of person than they are, or some other reason I don't know.
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We can take their freedom but not their right to free speech?
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See, law enforcement meddling with legislation. Of course they'll want all powers...
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Ridiculous
Not to mention it only applies in Pennsylvania, so any ex-con that wants to speak or write a book about her crime need only go to one if the other 49 states to do it with impunity, all while having the exact same "traumatic" impact on the victims.
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The title of this article is wrong....
"ACLU Challenges Law That Says Convicts Lose Free Speech Rights If Their Speech Upsets Crime Victims"
with
"ACLU Challenges Law That Says Everyone Loses Free Speech Rights If Their Speech Upsets Crime Victims"
Frankly, the way that travesty is written, it looks like a purely factual report on the original crime would be in violation of the law. Since after all, the purely factual report would remind the crime victim of the crime and as such could cause mental distress at the memory.
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Might want to reconsider.
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Re: Might want to reconsider.
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(un)Civil?
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Also, it sounds a bit like Pennsylvania is attempting to permanently seal court proceedings from public view. After all, the courtroom is where the vast majority of public speech by (later) convicted criminals would occur, and the law as I understand it is so vague that it wouldn't be hard to get the court transcripts sealed off to prevent "mental anguish."
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Of course
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> routine practice of hiring convicted criminals such as Oliver
> North and G. Gordon Liddy as celebrated talking heads?
No. This only applies to people in Pennsylvania, only then to people talking about their own crimes. It doesn't purport to muzzle ex-cons from talking about everything in the world.
And not only Fox hires degenerates for its shows. Look at MSNBC-- they gave Al Sharpton his own show.
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Is he a convicted felon?
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He certainly ought to be, considering his history.
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Food for thought.
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there is LITTLE to NO incentive to 'go straight' (WHERE are you going to find a decent fucking job, EVEN IF NEVER A CON?), and MANY MANY reasons to keep on with being a criminal...
of course, there is a material difference between being an ex-con of the darker persuasion from the 'hood; and being an ex-con ('i wear your scorn like a badge of honor...'), traitorous POS like an ollie north slimeball who gets teevee shows and millions for their troubles...
THERE IS NO DOUBT an ollie north has done INCALCULABLE damage to the country, but gets rewarded because he did the bidding of the puppetmasters; a two-bit criminal who bops one person over the head ? = decline of western civilization...
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A Politicians Path to Total Power
Check
Step 2 - Create enough laws that everyone is guilty of something.
Check
Step 3 - Convict everybody who doesn't support you.
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Good Bill
http://law.lclark.edu/live/files/4976-pennsylvania
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Re: Good Bill
Then why doesn't it just close the loophole? There are laws in other jurisdictions that do that, and don't trample speech rights like this one does.
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I wouldn't be at all surprised if the well known troll/(s) who complain that their comments are censored on this site will applaud and cheer this if this passes.
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How long until this law gets applied to everyone not just convicts. everyone save the self perceived elite of course.
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Parole
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Mental anguish
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