David Dreier doesn't like free speech. The California Congressman and the Republican Party have filed a felony federal complaint against one of their own, which could possibly lead to jail time, all for opposing the incumbent. Apparently, spending a million dollars wasn't enough. More coverage of Dreier here and here.
posted by calwatch on Oct 30, 2004 - 12 comments

The Jefferson Muzzles are awarded as a means to draw national attention to abridgments of free speech and press and, at the same time, foster an appreciation for those tenets of the First Amendment.
posted by papercake on Apr 13, 2004 - 8 comments

Free speech zones Appearing everywhere from Florida to Oregon. In California the concept has been fought and defeated, but in Kansas there seems to be little resistance. It's not just the usual suspects, either. Watch where you are standing no matter who you are protesting, even if it's just governors.
posted by betaray on Sep 21, 2003 - 31 comments

Why Hindu's make better teachers than gays. Eric Rasmusen, professor of Economics and Public Policy at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, has been allowed by the University to continue to update his occasionally homophobic weblog in the interests of free speech. Should this be allowed? Allowing due consideration for free speech, how does this type of speech disrupt open participation in an academic setting?
posted by cohappy on Sep 8, 2003 - 114 comments

The No Logs Network is encouraging web hosts and system admins to refrain from keeping site access logs, saying their storage can constitute a threat to free speech. It sounds like a good idea, but considering how paranoid many system admins tend to be, one has to wonder whether it could ever really take off as a movement.
posted by mrbula on May 26, 2003 - 24 comments

An Editorial Cartoon published in the University of Maryland 's Student run independent newspaper, The Diamondback, incites controversy. The cartoon, depicting the death of American pro-Palestinian activist Rachel Corrie, is being called offensive; protestors and university officials are calling for a retraction and an apology from the paper. The newspaper on the other hand is crying free speech and first amendment protection; as well they see the backlash by the campus community as hypocritical.
posted by mhaw on Mar 21, 2003 - 60 comments

Down with Free Speech? Poll shows American support for the first Amendment down. Would any politician be stupid enough to try to capitalize on this sentiment? Should we all be watching our words?
posted by Hall on Aug 30, 2002 - 41 comments

Small free speech zones on public college campuses seem incongruous. A more-carrot, less-stick solution might be a free speech zone that was indoors, with seating, like part of this was. Maybe then, fewer people would want to demonstrate elsewhere. This would probably ony work if people regularly came to listen and debate.
posted by engelr on May 8, 2002 - 9 comments

"We just want to provide a safe environment where the students can thrive." Cussing at school can get you ticketed and/or sent to juvenile hall now. Student free speech rights at risk? Tinker vs. Des Moines all over again?
posted by Kevin Sanders on Mar 1, 2002 - 13 comments

Forced to apologize to McDonald's The company recruited students during a school visit, which involved an assembly that was supposed to help students prepare for job interviews. When a student at the assembly criticized McDonald's, he was forced to apologize to the entire school.
posted by riley370 on Jun 19, 2001 - 53 comments

A triumph for art and free speech over commercialism. Or something like that. A photographer can't be prevented (by Mattel) from shooting pornographically posed Barbie dolls and selling the pictures as post cards. I wonder what they looked like. Hey, hot mama! (Courtesy of Firing Squad)
posted by Steven Den Beste on Feb 24, 2001 - 9 comments

Good breakdown of complex free speech case in Canada involving student's threat speech, famous writers (e.g. King, Atwood). (from wood s lot)
posted by aflakete on Feb 3, 2001 - 5 comments

Dallas tries to override the First Ammendment in order to fight a community activism page [javascript navigation... ick] that criticized the city for not enforcing zoning laws, amongst other problems. I personally love the concept of a city considering suing one of its citizens for trademark infringement for using the name of the city itself.
posted by jammer on Jan 31, 2001 - 8 comments

Censorware.org one of the best censorware pages, has died. "Due to demands from some of the people who contributed, in however minor a fashion, to this site, it has been taken down." Dagnabit! Anybody have any idea why? The site had one of the neatest pages on the net, estimated how fast it was going to show how impossible it was to keep up. Free spxxch loses an important defender.
posted by mrmorgan on Jan 30, 2001 - 0 comments

Police State 2000. "What makes you think you can edit content?" the federal judge asked city officials. "Isn't that classic censorship and prior restraint?"
posted by owillis on Jul 10, 2000 - 24 comments