[Rhodes22-list] Politics- 1st Amendment v. Defamatory Speech (That Delicate Balance)

[Herb Parsons]

I'm a little bit pulled in my thoughts on the whole "Schools restrict 
free speech" issue.

First of all, I want to say I believe firmly the the constitutional 
guarantee to free speech is limited to the GOVERNMENT's interference of 
free speech. In other words, when you come into my home, you have 
exactly the freedom of speech that I choose to give you, no more, no less.

The same is true of any private organization, the owner has the rights 
to dictate what can be done. It's only the government, in public 
settings, that needs to stay out of free speech.

However, what happens when "the government", including its hired 
representatives, are acting in a capacity other than a government official?

By that, I mean things like schools. Does an employee of the school, the 
principal, or the dean or president, have the "right" to tell students 
what they can and cannot say on campus?

I believe they do. While it's "government" property (those that are not 
private schools), it is not normal PUBLIC property, and thus I believe 
that schools have the right to restrict freedom of speech, and 
expression, on their campuses.

What about extensions beyond that? That gets a little dicier. Do I have 
an automatic "right" to be admitted to a college? Not really, most of 
them have entrance requirements, including a subjective review of the 
potential student candidate. Are my actions away from school factored in 
when I apply? I'd say typically, yes. They want to know about 
extra-cirricular activities, involvement in the community, etc. So, if I 
want those "extras" to weigh in my favor, does that give the school 
permission to similarly weigh negative actions or activities, including 
those involving free rights issues? In other words, if they can 
positively consider my year long volunteer work in the encourage voters 
to register, can they equally "consider" (negatively) my membership in 
the KKK?

I'd say they could (for the idiots among you, I'm speaking 
hypothetically, I'm not a member of the KKK, nor have I ever spent a 
year getting out the vote).

Once accepted the school, do they have the right to insist on certain 
standards of behavior, even if the standards infringe on the person's 
individual freedoms.

Absolutely! To me, the issues are two fold - The students must 
understand their responsibilities and restrictions, and then the school 
must maintain a reasonable level expectations.

I think in this case, the latter is definitely not being exceeded. I 
think to be fair, the expectations for the students have to be spelled 
out clearly.


Ben Cittadino wrote:
> Friends and Neighbors;
>
> The following news item appeared in "The Daily Briefing", a news and recent
> court decision service published in the Garden State, today. Frankly, I'm
> not sure how I feel about it. It is interesting though and I welcome your
> learned observations and opinions.
>
> "AG'S CYBER-BULLYING PUSH RAISES 1ST AMENDMENT ISSUES
> Freedom of speech advocacy groups claim that Attorney General Anne M.
> Milgram's August letter to all New Jersey college presidents calling for
> penalties for students engaged in cyber-bullying could encroach on protected
> speech on campuses. "An open-ended directive (to) punish the use of
> computers for 'bullying' will invariably cause some administrators to
> penalize lawful speech that falls within the protection of the First
> Amendment," the advocates' letter to Milgram notes. The Student Press Law
> Center, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, and the New
> Jersey chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists weighed in on the
> issue ahead of a series of meetings between the Attorney General and college
> administrators scheduled for this month. The push for anti-bullying
> regulations on college campuses arose after the disclosure of gossip- and
> slander-laden discussions by Princeton University undergraduates on
> www.JuicyCampus.com earlier this year. 11-12-08 "
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Ben C.
>