MetaFilter posts tagged with free and speech

C-Span Nazis

augustweed — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 19:00:25 -0800

C-SPAN claims ownership of ALL domain names containing its service mark “C-SPAN” or any variation of it. What kind of pull does C-Span have that Walmart doesn't?

Out of the mouths of babes...

LooseFilter — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 14:51:07 -0800

New Jersey high school student Matthew LaClair has been at the center of controversy before, challenging his U.S. History teacher for proselytizing in class. He's in the news again, bringing attention to conservative bias in his American history textbook. His efforts have gained some response, highlighting a trend that has been underway for some time. As pointed out by LaClair, his textbook is written by "James Q. Wilson, a well-known conservative academic, and John J. DiIulio, a political scientist and former head of President Bush's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives." The authors' political views are apparently quite evident in the textbook. Mr. LaClair's ACLU Scholarship Essay is here, and an informal interview is here.

New Supreme Court Opinions

dios — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 10:15:51 -0800

A very big day for the Supreme Court. In Morse v. Fredrick, the Court ruled that a school could suspend a child for holding up a "Bong HiTs for Jesus" banner. (Previous post here). In Hein v. Freedom from Religion, the Court held that taxpayers lacked standing to challenged Faith Based Initiatives (previous discussions). In Wilke v. Robbins, the Court held that land owners do not have Bivens claims if the federal government harasses landowners for easements. In FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life, the Court held that the portion of the campaign finance law which had blackout periods before elections on issue advocacy advertising was an unconstitutional restriction of speech (other). This Thursday, the Justices will deliver their last opinions of the term, including a death penalty case and the school assignment cases. (Opinions are .pdfs)

...liah ewylduorp os tahW

rzklkng — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 06:59:36 -0800

In Soviet Russia, Flag Flies You! [Google Cache] Just as in election years past, the American flag has once again become a political football. Apparently, flying the flag upside down, a traditional indication of "distress" - (Section 8a. "The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property") - has displeased some patriots as well. Fortunately, the Marines are there [Google cache]... [via digg][Original digg-effected link here].

Rebels with a cause

Smedleyman — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 10:22:34 -0800

“Judges are humans,” he said. “They’re not going to have any sympathy for this guy.” Some talk about free speech recently got me to thinking about what’s-his-name and some brothers who are doing something about it. (I always thought God was a biker. I mean, check out the beard.)

Free speech for the shy or self-conscious

pmbuko — Tue, 14 Jun 2005 16:09:24 -0800

What would you say, given one free minute of anonymous, uncensored speech? via Wired

o2b — Mon, 21 Jan 2002 17:31:31 -0800

Cyber gripers arise! In response to the trend of big corporations successfully taking 'sucks' domains away from the owners (vivendiuniversalsucks.com is an example in the article), the Free Speech Center will be offering 'sucks' domains for free for the taking (and presumably first amendment/article 19 exercising).