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Freedom of Speech

Banned Books Week, 9-25 to 10-2

It’s Banned Books Week. There have always been books that people don’t like, find distasteful, wrong, etc. Some of these concerns are legitimate — there are distasteful books written every day. Yet, an answer that seeks a state prohibition banning a book like Catcher in the Rye, for example, will always be excessive and illegitimate…

Dr. Laura Schlessinger: Confused Whiner

I’ve never listened to Dr. Laura Schlessinger on the radio, but I’ve read that she’s quitting radio because, by her account, her “First Amendment rights have been usurped” because she used the “n-word” on the air. (I know who she is, and know of her manner; I’m not, however, a listener.) Schlessinger’s claim in nonsense,…

Judge delays signing agreement on issue ads – JSOnline

The delay is because of uncertainty over whether state or federal court is the right venue, and not from doubts about the certain unconstitutionality of the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board’s issue ad regulations. These regulations are doomed in any event. Madison — A federal judge declined to sign an injunction Wednesday barring the state from…

You’re Welcome, Feisty Readers

I write what I believe, and I would do so even if I were the only person who thought as I do. I’m poor at predicting which posts will generate email, but I can see that the post immediately before this one has elicited quite a few messages, even in these several hours. See, Objections…

Objections and Replies on Independent Commentary

One would assume that blogging — simply modern-day pamphleteering — is now commonplace to Americans. And yet, one sometimes runs across objections to it, and here are quick replies to some objections I’ve recently heard. Not one of these objections strikes me as compelling, but they’re interesting as evidence of the divide between people who…

Let Ieshuh Griffin Run with Her Chosen Description on the Wisconsin Ballot

I’d never heard of Ieshuh Griffin, an independent candidate for a seat in Wisconsin’s Assembly, until Wednesday. I read yesterday about the Government Accountability Board’s denial of her request to describe her candidacy on the November ballot with the words “NOT the Whiteman’s Bitch.” (Candidates may have a brief description of their candidacies on the…

Tonight on Stossel: Campus Speech Codes

If you’ve not seen Stossel, the eponymous program of libertarian John Stossel on the Fox Business Channel, you’re missing a great program. Stossel’s program airs on the Fox Business Channel (rather than Fox News) on Thursdays at 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. central time. On tonight’s episode, Stossel considers the