William P. Warford, Antelope Valley Press, February 9, 2020, argues that a candidate forum at a Palmdale California mosque should not have been shut down by disruptive people “shouting despicable things.” Law enforcement gave the organizers two options, shut down or continue with the protesters. Writes Warford, “I think a third option would be better in these cases: If members of the audience refuse to allow candidates to speak, haul them out and charge them with disturbing the peace.”
A conservative Huntington Beach California blogger lost a bid to reinstate his claim that a school district trustee tried to limit his free speech rights with a restraining order. The 4th District California Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that his threats against Gina Clayton-Tarvin were not protected by the First Amendment. (Los Angeles Times, February 11, 2020, by Julia Sclafani)
A 71-year-old man stepped up to save his local newspaper, the Mountain Messenger of Downieville, CA, The newspaper is not only an important source of local news but since 1953 a chronicle of county history. (The New York Times, February 10, 2020, by Tim Arango)
Actor Marlon Wayans won a ruling by a California appellate court in a case charging him with racially insensitve language. The court reasoned that when Wayans used the word “nigga” off camera, he was contributing to the public discussion of the word, an issue of public interest and protected speech. (The Hollywood Reporter, January 31, 2020, by Eriq Gardner)
A Davenport Iowa man came under fire recently from Republicans and Democrats for his snow figures depicting a mannequin shooting a figure wearing a Bernie 2020 T-shirt. (The Courier, January 21, 2020, Graham Ambrose of the Quad City Times)
A Texas school district is refusing to allow a senior to walk at graduation unless he cuts his dreadlocks. The superintendent claims the 30-year-old policy only limits length and not cornrows or any other style. (KHOU 11, January 21, 2020, by Marcelino Benito)
A Babson College adjunct professor lost his job over a Facebook satire on President Donald Trump’s threats against Iran. Asheen Phansey wrote that Iran’s leader should “tweet a list of 52 sites of beloved American cultural heritage that he would bomb. Um . . . Mall of America? . . . Kardashian residence?” The college administration said it could not support threatening words. (The Boston Globe, January 22, 2020, by Deirdre Fernandes)
A Chinese student at the University of Minnesota is in Chinese prison serving a six month sentence for posting tweets in the U.S. unflattering of a national leader. (Axios, January 23, 2020, by Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian)