5 Infuriating Ways People Got the First Amendment Wrong in 2022
As free speech becomes an increasingly important part of the culture war, people won't stop misinterpreting—and outright violating—the First Amendment.
As 2022 comes to an end, what better way to appreciate the year gone by than to reminisce about the most ridiculous ways people got the First Amendment wrong during the past year? After all, the First Amendment is one of the more frequently misunderstood parts of our Constitution, often leading to incredible blunders by government officials and laypeople alike.
1. Yes, you can yell "fire" in a crowded theater.
One of the more surprising misstatements about the First Amendment this year came from Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. Despite sitting on the nation's highest court and being one of nine deciding voices in how the First Amendment is applied and interpreted, Alito repeated one of the most common misconceptions about the law during an October talk at the Heritage Foundation.
When offering examples of speech not protected by the First Amendment, Alito listed "extortion and threats," defamation, and "shouting 'fire' in a crowded theater."
Contrary to Alito's assertion, it is perfectly legal to shout "fire" in a crowded theater—though the idea has, for some reason, become an oft-repeated cultural maxim. The confusion comes from a now-overturned 1919 case, Schenk v. United States, in which the phrase was used as a metaphor—and not intended to create legal doctrine.
2. The Stop WOKE Act stops speech.
Many elected leaders bungled the First Amendment this year, but the dubious honor of the person who most consistently attempted to attack free speech rights in 2022 goes to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). In an attempt to prevent the teaching of critical race theory, DeSantis signed the Individual Freedom Act, better known as the Stop WOKE Act, which bans discussion of and training on certain topics relating to gender and race in Florida schools and businesses.
The law blatantly violates the First Amendment—though DeSantis himself doesn't seem to care. While the portions of the law applying to higher education and private businesses have been struck down in federal court, the law still affects primary and secondary schools—in part, leading to a spate of book bans.
3. No, it is not a First Amendment right to shut down your critics.
While DeSantis' state government shenanigans have a broader impact, plenty of local government officials have meddled with their constituents' speech rights as well. Monique Owens, the mayor of Eastpointe, Michigan, took a particularly confounding approach to the First Amendment this year, claiming to be exercising her free speech rights while shouting over citizens who criticized her during City Council meetings. For steamrolling her constituents' rights, Owens now faces a lawsuit.
4. Filming police is a First Amendment right.
Police officers were also top offenders of speech suppression this year. While 2022 has seen cases of police arresting citizens for online parody accounts and chalking anti-police messages, a particularly widespread occurrence involves police attempting to stop individuals from filming them. For example, in July, a federal court ruled in favor of a journalist who claimed police obstructed his attempts to film a DUI traffic stop—with one officer even driving his cruiser at the man and a fellow journalist. Another lawsuit was filed this year by a woman who, along with her mother, was violently arrested for filming police. Even if cops don't like it, federal courts have consistently upheld that individuals have the right under the First Amendment to film police in nondisruptive ways—meaning that retaliation in these cases is unconstitutional.
5. Heckler's vetoes are not protected speech.
Of course, a list like this wouldn't be complete without turning to campus activists. While college campuses are chock full of particularly mind-numbing misunderstandings of the First Amendment—from students and administration alike—the example that takes the cake this year comes from Yale Law School, where student activists disrupted a Federalist Society event discussing civil liberties.
As Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) attorney Zach Greenberg wrote, "Protesters banged on walls, stomped on the ground, chanted 'Fuck you FedSoc,' and screamed at the panelists…. The cacophony persisted for the majority of the event, and though panelists struggled to project their voices over the noise, the audience remained largely unable to hear them."
The activists' actions comprised a "heckler's veto"—a form of unprotected speech where the heckler prevents someone from exercising their free speech rights by physically preventing them from being heard. However, the activists didn't seem to care. When students were told their actions violated Yale's free expression policies, a chorus of students insisted that "This is free speech."
This year has been filled with culture war hubbub over what is and is not protected by the First Amendment. While we can disagree about what kind of speech we find appropriate and acceptable, the Constitution is clear about what speech is actually protected. Perhaps getting the First Amendment right would be a fitting New Year's resolution for Supreme Court justices and law students alike.
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Nice list.
Uh… I think you missed a kinda big one. I mean, living in a country where the federal government tells the press what they may and may not cover and enlists the aid of the most common communication mediums to back up and enforce that control might make it difficult to see.
Then, of course, there was thr FBI spying on, raiding and arresting journalists for deciding not to cover stories that were brought to them in a suspicious manner. Bonus for leaking privileged lawyer-client communications to the other party in a lawsuit.
“…raiding and arresting journalists for deciding not to cover stories that were brought to them in a suspicious manner.”
Your citation fell off! AND the FBI is in cahoots with the Lizard People!
Sqrlsy, the fascist rodent pooping out pellets all over the Reason comment section.
And then turning around and hobbling up said pellets as if they were chocolate candy.
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“Your citation fell off!”
The citations are everywhere on the internet and in every newspaper on the planet, Shillsy.
I know you’re shitposting to cover for the Democrats, but that bit of sea lioning was particularly retarded.
“The citations are everywhere on the internet…”
Concerning the Lizard People, and Bigfoot and Elvis spotted piloting a UFO together. Yes, I already knew that!
AND I noticed that YOU provided NO citations for inspection, either, Oh Great Perfect One!
There’s a fantastic example down below, and you’re busy spouting the LEA’s excuses for why they did it like they’re legitimate.
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Ooh… I know, how about spying on a journalist covering a major political story and using that knowledge to block other journalists from covering the story and spreading disinformation to discredit that story. Does that implicate the 1st amendment protections for speech and the press if the FBI does it?
Ooh! How about using the government to pressure professional accreditation groups to excommunicate members who speak out about flaws in the state orthodoxy?
Does preventing people from practicing their chosen profession count as a method of illegally controlling speech?
Or…
How about prosecuting a journalist for going undercover and talking to insiders?
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These lists can get kinda long rather quickly of you include things like “using state power to suppress political speech” as a definition.
This list is really easy to populate and shows just how bad reason has gotten over the years. Trump broke them
But it’s icky political speech so Reason doesn’t care.
“BUT WHAT ABOUT FOOD TRUCKS AND HOOKERS! AND LOOK! THAT REPUBLICAN ISN’T KEEN ON LATE TERM ABORTION (boo, hiss!)”
“I mean, living in a country where the federal government tells the press what they may and may not cover…”
So WHO in the media got punished for disobeying Government Almighty in this manner? I mean, with jails or fines or “capital punishment”, NOT just getting dis-invited from the best cocktail parties? Until you crybabies name me ONE such person, I will call y’all what ye are… Crybabies!
I mean, with jails or fines or “capital punishment””
I see Sqrlsy’s rapidly redefining government press censorship, so he can pretend that the FBI’s involvement in censoring the New York Post isn’t bad because they didn’t kill them.
What a fucking Nazi.
NAZI crybabies get REALLY-REALLY upset, I see, when they get dis-invited from the best cocktail parties!!!! POOR BABY!!!! THERE-THERE NOW!!!!
See, and now he’s trying to infer people bitching about government censorship are being cry-babies. This clown’s worse than Jeff and Shrike on censorship and free speech.
Says the Marxist narcissistic bitch who opposes the 1A of the internet = = Section 230!
D’Souza and the Lefts IRS-Tax scandals.
Emma’s number 2 is getting the first ammendment wrong. It was impressive. She doesn’t understand employee speech can be regulated. Even in the Executive. For example the Hatch Act.
Especially when it comes to what they’re teaching our children. But hey, she’s a self admitted leftist, so this is about what I expect from her.
Funny how Reason hires this bitch, versus an actual libertarian, or even a conservative. Going forward, I’m guessing their hires will all be of the far left variety.
https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1606728944283271169?t=204eBBlJLci0pAe5QjnCpw&s=19
According to the new Twitter Files:
The CIA has been holding holding regular ‘briefings’ with Twitter execs to direct them what to censor – especially on foreign news topics
And there are indications this goes on across US internet platforms
We were never supposed to know
https://twitter.com/mtaibbi/status/1606701397109796866?t=k8cjU-xjgz-sdTL6ojBxyQ&s=19
1.THREAD: The Twitter Files
TWITTER AND “OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCIES”
[Thread]
Nothing about Hobbs having all content about lake removed from you tube?
Good one
Example:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/banned-youtubes-official-election-interference-on-full/id929121341?i=1000576532191
“YouTube suspended this show over our Kari Lake interview. So, you know what? We’re interviewing her AGAIN! Because f*ck YouTube. It’s not just us. Big Tech and the Biden admin are coming after Libs of TikTok, people who don’t like the IRS, and anyone who posts a criticism of Biden on Facebook.”
Lest you think this is some tiny operation, this Chanel has roughly 6 million subscribers.
Rachel Maddow peaked at around 2.5 million viewers. It puts him on par with a network show in the top 40. Something like NCIS or Law and Order.
One thing not covered in this list… one political party and political movement is openly pushing to repeal the 1st amendment. That same group also defines speech as violence and violence as speech.
Which is a greater threat to free speech? A state declaring that propagandizing children in its government run schools on a fringe political-sexual ideology is not allowed….. or eliminating the first amendment entirely? Or how about the same comparison for a group that advocates violence in the furtherance of their ideology? How does that work out? What would Andy Ngo think of your list?
The Florida schools one really irks me. We are told time and again that libraries have limited resources and that not buying a book is not censorship. Yet when the state decides that certain subjects are not to be taught, that is censorship.
I have never had problems with teh gays; the first openly gay person I met was around 1970, and he was just another apartment dweller; he did have the interesting hobby of releasing aluminum foil helium balloons in front of Air Force radar stations. But this push to normalize kids stuffing money into drag queen underwear, and child gender mutilation, is beyond the pale. Personally, if the cost of legalizing homosexuality is grooming, then they can all go back in the closet for all I care. That’s a bridge too far.
You talk about grooming while ignoring it’s almost always the moral upright brigade that is molesting kids.
I’m convinced the people that talk the most about gay, transgendered, and drag Queen people grooming kids are closed and frustrated pedophiles just projecting on others.
That isn’t fair, nor is it right.
It’s simpler than that. Cultural conservatives are the epicenter of pedophilia and grooming, as evidenced by the international pedophile ring known as the Catholic Church, the national pedophile ring known as the Boy Scouts, and the various versions of churches who cover for, apologize for, and defend sexual predators of all stripes.
Knowing that it will never stop because … well, because that’s today’s conservative movement … they have to try to deflect by accusing others of the things they, themselves, do.
Hence the empty accusations of organized grooming and pedophilia against “liberals”. Mentions of Epstein in connection to Bill Clinton, but not Donald Trump. False claims of “sex education” in K-3 classrooms. False claims of drag queens, trans people, and gay people beiing “groomers”.
Their two choices are to fight actual grooming and pedophilia, which is centered in the cultural conservative movement, or baselessly accuse everyone else of being degenerate. Guess which one they chose?
Fecklessness, thy name is conservatives.
Utter bullshit. The Catholic Church is in no way conservative. The current Pope is a fucking Marxist. The real pedophiles are you people. Your senile master, Biden, molested his own daughter around age ten when he made her shower with him. This is from her own writing. Which has been verified by the FBI.
Now you people are trying to make pedophilic a sexual orientation instead of mental disorder. Your kind are always trying to groom children. To the point where you want that baked into the government school system.
You people should be cleansed for that alone. If any of you had an ounce of integrity, you would kill yourselves.
Nelson is cancer, not people
Cleansed? Jesus Hitler, I thought you committed suicide in the 1940’s.
James Gordon meek.
The journalist that the FBI disappeared
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/former-abc-news-producer-james-meek-doj-preps-charges-1234646196/
DOJ Preps Charges Against Former ABC News Producer
Nearly eight months after the FBI raided James Gordon Meek’s home, sources say the government is preparing an indictment, unrelated to his work as a journalist, for a grand jury’s consideration
For emphasis… “unrelated to his work as a journalist”
Will ye fanatics EVER stop LYING?
And you believe the FBI?
If you really do, then your gullibility has been proven, and your credibility is shot.
We all believe whatever we REALLY want to believe. Gotcha! I for one believe that paranoia will destroy-ya! Also, JFK was shot to death by proxies for the Lizard People, because JFK was about to invent anti-gravity, WAAAAY too long before humans were truly ready for such powerful “tech”!
“sources say the government is preparing an indictment, unrelated to his work as a journalist… Will ye fanatics EVER stop LYING?”
He had national security documents related to the story he had been reporting on for a long time, you mendacious fuck. It’s right in the fucking article. You’re such a fucking lying government shill.
Only a fucking Nazi would treat government narrative as unalloyed truth without even questioning it in the face of serious issues with their story.
If I have “national security documents” related to how to trigger nuclear weapons, or the fine details about how USA nukes are built, and how exactly they work, can I say that I am a reporter, and then publish (or accidentally lose) such information, and then claim that I am innocent, and am being unfairly prosecuted? Or the identity of CIA agents working undercover in hostile foreign nations? “National security” is a total fiction? What planet did you say that you were from?
SQRLSY, give into your holiday depression and commit suicide. It’s the only gift anyone will ever want from you.
Sqrlsy supports any amount of fascism if it’s against his enemies.
EVERYONE who does NOT agree with R-Talks-Smack on EVERYTHING in EVERY small way… Is a FASCIST, dammit!!!
R-Talks-Smack RULES THEM ALL with His All-Powerful and All-Seeing Ding-a-Ling Ring-Things!!!! BEWARE, disobedient peons, BEWARE!!!! Pinko Ephalumps on patrol!!!!
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It’s the Woke Democrats you shill for that are demanding equality of outcome, Sqrlsy.
See, this is proof that you aren’t “both sides” and that you are tribal. You posted an article complaining about equal outcome ideology that was actually part of Rashida Tlaib, AOC, Fetterman and Chuck Schumer’s election platforms, and pretend it’s conservative.
If you were actually non-affiliated you would have blamed the Democrats, but you did the opposite.
So can you point out WHERE I blamed ANYONE for the above idiocy that I trotted out, other than R Mac? Did I blame it on Republicans? If so, where? R Mac ***IS*** practicing “do-gooder derogation”… As are YOU also! You MUST tear down ANYONE who makes You look bad, Oh Perfect One!
STUDY UP, ignorant one!!!
You resent the hell out of the fact that many other people are flat-out, better, more honest people than you are, right? More “live and let live”, and WAAAY less authoritarian?
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/in-love-and-war/201706/why-some-people-resent-do-gooders
From the conclusion to the above…
These findings suggest that we don’t need to downplay personal triumphs to avoid negative social consequences, as long as we make it clear that we don’t look down on others as a result.
SQRLSY back here now… So, I do NOT want you to feel BAD about YOU being an authoritarian asshole, and me NOT being one! PLEASE feel GOOD about you being an evil, lying asshole! You do NOT need to push me (or other REAL lovers of personal liberty) down, so that you can feel better about being an asshole! EVERYONE ADORES you for being that asshole that you are, because, well, because you are YOU! FEEL that self-esteem, now!
Also this…
The intelligent, well-informed, and benevolent members of tribes have ALWAYS been feared and resented by those who are made to look relatively worse (often FAR worse), as compared to the advanced ones. Especially when the advanced ones denigrate tribalism. The advanced ones DARE to openly mock “MY Tribe’s lies leading to violence against your tribe GOOD! Your tribe’s lies leading to violence against MY Tribe BAD! VERY bad!” And then that’s when the Jesus-killers, Mahatma Gandhi-killers, Martin Luther King Jr.-killers, etc., unsheath their long knives!
“Do-gooder derogation” (look it up) is a socio-biologically programmed instinct. SOME of us are ethically advanced enough to overcome it, using benevolence and free will! For details, see http://www.churchofsqrls.com/Do_Gooders_Bad/ and http://www.churchofsqrls.com/Jesus_Validated/ .
Then they crucified Jesus, ’cause Jesus made them look bad! ALSO because Jesus made them look bad FOR THEIR STUPID, HIDE-BOUND TRIBALISM! “The parable of the Good Samaritan” was VERY pointed, because the Samaritans were of the WRONG tribe, in the eyes of “Good Jews” of the day.
Not putting child porn in a school library is not a ban. All publishers removing books about detransitiong to the point where your not allowed to buy them is
Come on. If not providing a middle class life for people who prefer not to work is oppressive slavery, then not forcing people to read proscribed texts is censorship.
^^THIS… Point well made 🙂
Emma camp clearly hasn’t read the stop woke act, as pretty much it says the civil rights act of the 50s applies to everyone, so no more teaching that people are bad for being white. And it prevents teachers of third graders and under from sexualizing children.
These are prime examples of no enemies to the left mentality that reason has taken up, and why libritarians call out their bs
How does paying a television journalist to produce hit pieces on political candidates during an election and present them as straight news fit in?
https://nypost.com/2022/12/21/lobbying-firm-paid-abc-reporter-for-hit-pieces-reprot/
I mean, it ain’t framing the incoming administration for fake crimes using state power, but it still has to be on the bad side of the “free and open political debate” dividing line, right?
Fuck you Reason for your continued attacks on DeSantis.
CB
No shit. The only possible explanation for being critical of Republicans is being a hardcore leftist. That’s why “libertarians” are all hardcore leftists. Either you’re with the Republicans or you’re a progressive. That’s it.
Yeah, that is dumb. Criticizing anyone when they are wrong from our point of view is obviously on point.
But the DeSantis coverage has clearly been of the “we must attack the leading republican contender” variety. It has not been in response to what he does or says, it has been entirely because of the threat he poses to the DNC control.
Compare and contrast with the governors of California, New York and Michigan over the last few years.
They are all equally prominent in their parry. And they have all been far, far less libertarian in their governance. Yet? No obsession with tearing them down…
You’re kidding, right? There’s a “Look what that idiot Newsom did” article like every week. Same with New York. Dunno about Michigan.
“Look what that idiot Newsom did”
Nope. There’s an occasional “Newsom is being misguided and needs better advice” article, but they will never attribute stupidity and malice to Newsom like they do DeSantis.
And why would they, just like you they’re ideologically Democratic Party adjacent.
Come on, man! You know Sarc has to protect his Marxist masters.
That’s a good one. CA made it illegal for doctors to disagree with the official goverment position.
There might be a 1a issue there
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There was Biden’s “Georgia voting laws are Jim Crow 2.0”, when they are looser than New York’s. Which means that Hochul is Gov. George Wallace 2.0. my head is spinning.
But the DeSantis coverage has clearly been of the “we must attack the leading republican contender” variety. It has not been in response to what he does or says, it has been entirely because of the threat he poses to the DNC control.
Ah, yes. Leftist Reason is always trying to undermine Republicans because they’re all closet progressives. How do we know this? They’re critical of Republicans. Are they critical of Democrats too? Yeah, but that doesn’t count. They’re critical of Republicans, and that makes them leftist.
By the way, isn’t Trump still the leading Republican contender in the polls?
While it is probably too early for polls to tell us much there are some polls showing Trump behind DeSantis.
https://www.bing.com/search?q=desantis+leads+trump&form=ANNTH1&refig=a91bb55d8777437688bd6f3a5bcec676&sp=2&qs=UT&pq=desantis+lead&sk=PRES1UT1&sc=10-13&cvid=a91bb55d8777437688bd6f3a5bcec676
Not the one Trump cites on Truth Social. 🙂
Although, I don’t think he has touted his polling numbers lately.
You still say stupid things every day though.
Um, no Mike, get with the times. Trump’s star is falling, hence the hit pieces on DeSantis.
THANK YOU Reason for your continued attacks on DeSantis.
As long as the Reich Wing of the Republican Party thinks it can succeed by curtailing our liberties, I want Reason to continue its crusade against it and against those who claim to be libertarian who think DeSantis is some sort of culture war hero.
Why do you applaud attacking the lesser evil and ignoring the greater evil?
Ilya Somin, I believe, said he would vote for Biden because Trump spent too much. If that was his only criteria, was it sane?
Boem said he would vote for Biden if his state was predicted to go for Trump. Was that a good bargain?
As long as the Reich Wing of the Republican Party thinks it can succeed by curtailing our liberties, to curtail their liberties FIFY.
The only ones I’ve seen who want to curtail liberties are those in the progressive/woke wing of the Democratic Party. They call others fascist while being fascist themselves.
Both Sides!, you know.
DeSantis is just a smarter trump. Go read OAN if you need to circle jerk.
Well, DeSantis is a fan of using governemnt force to punish his political enemies and those who speak out against him, imposing unsupported culture war beliefs on education, and “co.mon good constitutionalism”. So yeah, he should be called out for being a pro-government-force authoritarian.
Oh, and that last example about campus…
The important part is left unstated. The problem isn’t that some kids show up and try to be disruptive. The problem is that the administration prevents campus police from doing anything to stop them.
The same issue applied to BLM/Antifa riots. The mental gymnastics required to avoid seeing the cooperation between democrat politicians in positions of power and the mob that they protect from legal consequences is impressive.
BLM/Antifa riots? Let me guess. January 6th was just a peaceful protest by concerned citizens, right?
Does Free Speech guarantee a captive audience? Children and college students are required to attend class, shut up and listen. At what point do the “free speech” rights of administrators and teachers take a back seat to the right of the students and parents?
The objection isn’t that CRT is a good thing. The objection is that it sets a precedent for legislating what may or may not be taught in school. What if some progressive asshats decide that math is cultural appropriation since we use Arabic numerals? Look past the specific subject being banned and instead look at the principle.
Sad to say, today’s flavors of conservaturd idiots can NOT see this basic principle at ALL!!! They think “let’s change the laws to enable us to pussy-grab the enemy, and the new laws will NEVER be used by them, to pussy-grab us right back”! So we’re faced with politicians milking this shit to no end, and pussy-grabbing us ALL, from BOTH sides, abusing us by our own power-lust and self-righteousness!
“Team R” politician: “The debt is too large, and government is too powerful. If you elect ME, I will FIX that budget-balance problem SOON! But, first things first! THOSE PEOPLE OVER THERE ARE GETTING ABORTIONS!!! We must make the liberals CRY for their sins! AFTER we fix that RIGHT AWAY, we’ll get you your budget balanced and low taxes!”
“Team L” politician: “The debt is too large, and I’ll get that fixed soon, I promise you, if you elect ME! First, the more important stuff, though: THOSE PEOPLE OVER THERE ARE OWNING GUNS!!! We must PROTECT the American People from guns and gun-nuts!!! AFTER we fix that RIGHT AWAY, we’ll get our budgets balanced!”
And then we gripe and gripe as Government Almighty grows and grows, and our freedoms shrink and shrink. And somehow, the budget never DOES get balanced!
Now LISTEN UP for the summary: Parasites and politicians (but I repeat myself) PUSSY GRAB US ALL by grabbing us by… Guess what… by our excessive self-righteousness, tribalism, the “rush to judge” others, and the urge to PUNISH-PUNISH-PUNISH those “wrong” others! Let’s all STOP being such fools, and STOP allowing the politicians OF BOTH SIDES from constantly pussy-grabbing us all, right in our urge to… Pussy-grab the “enemies”, which is actually ALL OF US (and our freedoms and our independence, our ability to do what we want, without getting micro-managed by parasites)!!!
Shorter and sweeter: The pussy-grabbers are actually pussy-grabber-grabbers, grabbing us all in our pussy-grabbers. Let us all (as best as we can) AMPUTATE our OWN nearly-useless-anyways pussy-grabbers, and the pussy-grabber-grabbers will NOT be able to abuse us all NEARLY ass much ass these assholes are doing right now!
Notice he criticizes “team R” and “team L” (weirdly attributing gun control to libertarians), but won’t criticize “team D”.
We don’t call him Shillsy for nothing.
Yeah, it’s rather bizarre and squirrely. Almost as if Sqrlsy is projecting.
Sorry, typo. Meant “Team D”… Unlike Perfect Marxist Mammary-Fuhrer, I admit my mistakes…
The objection is that it sets a precedent for legislating what may or may not be taught in school.
Dewey (of decimal fame) beat you to the punch on that, like 120 years ahead. Beyond that, do locals have no say in how their dollars are spent in education?
The real fix is separation of school and state. Sad to say, that will NOT happen any time soon!
State government isn’t what I would call local.
Unless you happen to live in every given state simultaneously, they are indeed local.
“Unless you happen to live in every given state simultaneously…”
As a quantum human, I can DO that! Until such time as you collapse my wavefront, by seeing me in a discrete location! Schrodinger’s cat has NOTHING on me!
Federal, state, local. There may be levels of local government (county, city, township, etc.), but local government is commonly understood to be the level below state government. Even Rhode Island’s government isn’t local.
This is John Dewey
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dewey
It would be unfair to Melvil Dewey, inventer of Dewey Decimals, to confuse him with John.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melvil_Dewey
It seems Melvil had his own problems, like groping women and practicing racism. Not faux-racism in the modern woke sense, but in the sense of real racism which got him in trouble in the early 1900s. The groping got him in trouble, too. He must have misplaced his ciswiteherero male privilege card, otherwise he’d surely have gotten away with it.
Assuming Wikipedia is accurate, of course.
The only remaining question is what to rename his decimal system. May I suggest something noncontroversial like the Che Guevara Decimal System?
You can’t just rename the system. You must decolonize it. Prioritize indigenous and aboriginal ways of knowing.
#DecimateDecimals
Indigenous and aboriginal? You mean burn the books and then tell stories around the fire while munching magic mushrooms?
Governments legitimately set school curricula.
They legitimately set minimum standards in subjects, yes. So people know what a diploma means. What we’re talking about here is government saying “This subject is verboten!”
Under your theory, any progressive teacher can decide that on their own.
Not really. Not if a diploma requires a certain proficiency in math.
There are way too many cites of students in big cities run by libtards graduating students that not only can’t demonstrate proficiency in math but also are functionally illiterate to take your claim seriously.
But if Florida really wanted to do something useful, they should abolish public sector unions…
Florida? Try the entire nation. Unions create an adversarial relationship between employer and employee. We the People are the employer. Unions only foster contempt between government and the people they supposedly serve. Not only that, but when unions extort too much from a business, that business goes under. Governments just raise taxes. I’m 100% opposed to public sector unions. Private sector? Don’t care.
Here’s a related suggestion, though it concerns more than unions: a government employee would be excluded from voting in elections concerning the specific government they work for. So a state employee could not vote in state elections, but they could still vote in federal and local elections. A federal employee could not vote in federal elections, but could vote in state and local elections. The idea is to exclude government employees from voting for people and policies that control the existence of, and remuneration for, their jobs.
Working on that. DeSantis is fighting for eliminating the payroll deduction to pay union dues for teachers. If you want to be in a union and pay dues, you have to write ’em a check each month.
CB
“they should abolish public sector unions (and with it seniority) and private political activities of government employees”
So you’re against freedom of association and speech. Got it.
You’re doing a bang up job of mimicking Fascism.
So becoming a public sector employee means to you that they’re now subservient slaves and not Americans.
What part of Russia are you posting from?
“I’m a private sector employee.”
Then the first amendment isn’t applicable.
“the experiences and warnings about deluded supporters of totalitarianism like you.”
Says the guy demanding more totalitarianism.
Do you not understand state accreditation boards or schools boards? Blind ignorance is the only way your comment makes sense. Have you heard if school standards ever?
Yes schools can dictate their education. Teachers are employees. Not individual contractors. They follow a general lesson plan mandated by the state or local boards.
This is common knowledge to everyone who isn’t trying to rationalize indoctrination in schools. Youre badly parroting a jeff argument that has been rebuffed multiple times.
If you had a school of legal theory that had as a base tenet that the blood libel against Jewish people was a fact, would anyone bat an eye at the state trying to eliminate it from its higher education system?
CRT is based on a similar calumny against Europeans, especially those of western European descent.
If there is anything this country needs right now it is a bunch of people going to Yale law who don’t understand the concept of free speech.
They understand the concept…as it will come to be understood in the future under the influence of Yale Law graduates. We will all be made to understand the new definition, too.
+100000000000 Best comment yet! 🙂
Well said! The name should be changed from Reason.com to Baizou.com
Perfect rebuttal of a moronic viewpoint. Would read again.
https://twitter.com/wil_da_beast630/status/1606440632431656960?t=lra1T0lXo_IWCi4Td8-IVA&s=19
This was the actual impact of the Black Lives Matter/ACAB era.
Never forget.
[Link]
https://twitter.com/IsabellaMDeLuca/status/1606659392438403073?t=cWeIyJ2KXoeyDKKE93ooRg&s=19
This is your reminder that Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty 348 days ago of child trafficking and not one predator that paid to be on an island with minors has had their name released, their home raided, or been arrested.
Yeah the fix is in. Next up, SBF.
So a year-end review of First Amendment violations doesn’t include people talking about Twitter’s rights as a private company, when that private company was repeatedly being pestered by government agencies to censor? And that what was being censored was undeniably true and the FBI was completely aware of it because they’d had the information for over a year?
Beyond that, the censorship continued beyond the election cycle to shut down factual information about COVID and vaccines based on the government’s need to protect itself. It’s the biggest First Amendment scandal we’ve seen in a long time, it seems like it should top your year-end lists like this.
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2022/12/20/twitter-file-release-8-evidence-showing-pentagon-state-dept-using-twitter-for-propaganda-release-curated-to-protect-barack-obama/
Twitter could have said no.
They didn’t.
Stop making sense.
Don’t you know that the government asking for something that may or may not be granted is the exact same thing as censorship?
Unless it is a conservative administration imposing their cultural values on people. That’s totally OK.
The DNC & Biden, FBI & DOJ should NOT be asking – regardless if they other person can decline.
It’s like a cop asking to see your ID when not suspected of a crime but implying repercussions if you don’t comply with an unlawful order; the crime is in the GOVERNMENT AGENT asking at all.
The fact that the government paid for it makes it a First Amendment violation, regardless of whether Twitter could have turned down the deal.
But the social media giants are under enormous regulatory and political pressure; if they turn down such requests, they have to fear consequences. That also makes it a First Amendment violation.
The government simply must not make such requests, period.
The analogy I’ve seen drawn here regarding Twitter is to that of a restaurateur kicking out people bothering other customers.
However, I don’t understand why it’s not more akin to a telephone company cutting calls because they don’t like the content of the calls.
What both of these analogies leave out is that the restaurateur isnt acting on their own will – rather at the behest of the US GOVERNMENT, who would be the Mafia, threatening to burn down the restaurant and shutter the telephone company, if the Mafias bidding isn’t done.
Thoughts?
What? No mention of Assange. I think Reason forgot that parents and their political representatives, have a say in what their children are taught in public schools.
Yet another curse of Commie-Education.
Something that should’ve never been institutionalized.
Right, Ron DeSantis is just being a parent to the entire state. But the nanny state is fine if cultural conservatives are the nannies.
2. The Stop WOKE Act stops speech.
No. The “Stop WOKE” act sets curricula for Florida schools, including things that are not to be taught. Teachers can still express their personal views, just not when on the clock in the classroom.
Exactly. When you are on someone else’s dime you tow the company line or work some place else. Same for the NFL, military, Google employee or a state teacher.
All the vax deniers and refusers in the military say hi.
Stop pointing out their hypocricy. It makes them feel sad.
WTF are you talking about? The soldiers who refused the COVID vaccine were fired. The same should happen to teachers who refuse to do their job as required by their employer.
A small number were discharged. The rest sued and got a judge to say they could ignore a lawful order.
That is incorrect. The judge ruled that certain soldiers were exempt from the vaccine requirement under military policy and that the military had failed to follow the law; that is, the order wasn’t actually lawful. The judge did not create a general exemption from military vaccine requirements.
Nobody has claimed a generic right of soldiers to refuse any vaccine they like. In contrast, teachers have claimed a generic right to teach whatever they want.
Furthermore, soldiers who refused the vaccine did get fired.
The objections to COVID-19 vaccinations of soldiers were science-based, namely that vaccinating a young and healthy population with the mRNA vaccines is not just pointless, it is dangerous.
Science based? There is no science to say it’s any more dangerous than other vaccines. Which is to say that for 99% of people it’s safe.
For healthy young adult males, scientific results strongly suggest that the risk from the vaccine is likely higher than the risk from COVID. That is why people are criticizing the vaccination policy.
Conservatives are not denying the right of an employer to fire employees who violate their employment contract, whether those employees are soldiers or teachers.
Wow this is mask off level reaching to defend woke/progressive interests. Not even a mention of twitter stuff and a state government setting limits and standards in education get labeled an attack on speech somehow.
https://twitter.com/Rothbard1776/status/1606743827913613313?t=_ZmYiBisViffFW6XUJPd9Q&s=19
It feels like we’re in the middle of a grand experiment to see how far the government and media can push the population until we finally stand up for ourselves.
This is the natural outcome of unchecked corruption and institutional capture by special interests who have their sights set on totalitarian control of society, information and resources.
A process that’s been unfolding for many, many decades.
“Stop WOKE Act, which bans discussion of and training on certain topics relating to gender and race in Florida schools and businesses.”
Why is that wrong but forbidding the teaching of Creationism in public schools is permissable?
Only in some places, and it’s regularly attacked.
Because Creationism is provably nonsense?
Tell me you don’t understand logic without telling me.
Because creationism is like teaching the earth is flat?
Because Creationism is fantasy. If you want to present it as reality, that would have to change.
The idea that men can become women is also fantasy.
The idea that body dysmorphia can be treated through surgery isn’t just fantasy, it is obscene.
So what? That doesn’t change the fact that the earth is more than 6,000 years old.
Well that’s their decision isn’t it?
If I tell you that you could survive jumping off the Empire State Building and you go take a flying leap, it was just your decision, right?
P.S.: You could totally survive jumping off the Empire State Building. Totally.
Michelle Carter was convinced to involuntary manslaughter for convincing her bc to kill himself.
That’s not the issue here. The issue is that we shouldn’t teach something in school that causes children to harm themselves.
That presumes what the Stop Woke Act regulates is not fantasy, you are begging the question there.
Book banning is right when it’s pornography being shown to 3rd graders.
Declining to provide pornography to 3rd graders in school is not the same as banning it.
Well yes, but that would suggest that you do not have much objection to what Florida did
Good thing no one is showing pornography to 3rd graders.
Cherokee county library for kids includes “Homegoing” which includes passages too erotic to be spoken aloud in public.
Split hairs all you want – that’s providing sexualized materials to minors in my book.
What pornography, exactly?
You know, that book that the school board wouldn’t let the parent read from because it was too obscene for the adults in the room.
Cherokee county library for kids includes “Homegoing” which includes passages too erotic to be spoken aloud in public.
Split hairs all you want – that’s providing sexualized materials to minors in my book.
“Homegoing” available in Cherokee County school libraries, and probably all over the country by now.
The 1st Amendment cannot protect speech in a Communist Nation.
i.e. Commie-Education needs to be cut from politics.
Whoever thought GUNS taught children anyways?
Because lets face it; GUN-Force is the only tool in government toolbox.
What?
He makes as much sense as Squirrelsy. Possibly less.
The whole premise of the 1st Amendment is to LIMIT government.
Which is a complete contradiction to Communist governing.
6: https://reason.com/
ISWYDT
Critical Race Theory is all B.S. and nothing but B.S. At its worst it taught white children to hate themselves. Furthermore it was being deliberately shoved down children’s throats.
It’s one book that should be banned and burned. I would have no problem with tossing the lot into a fire.
Ron DeSantis was right in doing so. The parents who rebelled did so to protect their children form that rubbish.
“shoved down children’s throats”
Critical Race Theory has never been a part of K-12 curricula in America. It’s never been taught to children, let alone forced on them.
“It’s one book that should be banned and burned.”
It isn’t a book, it’s a historical analysis. Dumb as shit and deeply flawed, but not a book.
“The parents who rebelled did so to protect their children form that rubbish.”
No, those parents are sheeple who believe the fact-free bullshit that cultural conservatives like DeSantis feed them. They are clueless dumbasses who have accomplished nothing except planting their flags in the culture wars.
“they get a simplified form of it”
Nope. Not happening. American schools don’t have CRT in curricula. Never have. Never will.
Teaching about slavery, the Confederacy (as the bad thing it was), the Civil War (and that it was caused by the South), the KKK, Jim Crow, lynching, and other pieces of history that accurately report on blacks being dehumanized, abused, marginalized, and killed by whites in a society that was fundementally biased against them isn’t CRT.
Pointing out that America, for about its first 190 years from the signing of the Declaration of Independence, was overtly racist and has only slowly and fitfully improved in the 60 years since then isn’t CRT.
Pointing out that minorities of all stripes have often been treated shabbily in America, from the Native Americans of the 18th and 19th Centuries to the Irish/Italian/Polish/Chinese of the Industrial Revolution, to the Japanese in WWII, to Hispanics of the late 20th/early 21st Centuries, isn’t CRT.
CRT is a very specific theory, not the broad shambolic menace that cultural conservatives claim. It is a weak, unconvincing, and inconsistent theory that most people don’t ascribe to.
“they are the parents and they get to determine what their children learn in school”
Who are “the parents” you speak of? A vocal, angry, and ill-informed minority who have chosen to be manipulated by professional outrage merchants to oppose something that isn’t happening?
When you say parents get to determine what their children learn, you seem to think that each individual parent gets a unilateral veto. That’s not how it works. It never has been and God help us if it ever gets there.
You don’t like the public education that most people find acceptable? Send your kid to private school. As long as your unfounded outrage is dismissed by most people (because most people aren’t credulous rubes or culture warriors), those are your choices. The tyranny of the minority, especially the ignorant minority, will never be justified.
You can keep repeating your lies. Unfortunately, the public isn’t miserable enough to realize that to survive, Marxists like you have to go. Although Biden is working hard to change that.
I look forward to the day when you realize how fucking bad it’s going to get for you and your fellow travelers.
Maybe mercy will be listed on you. Hopefully not.
Shut up, Fascist.
We should never have our kids teached raced-based relative morality.
They should not be taught that some people or anyone at all is either better or more guilty based on their skin tone.
They aren’t. People who believe they are, aren’t serious people. They’re pawns and cannon fodder in the culture war that conservatives have committed to 100%.
More lies and propaganda from you.
Nelson: either your mind has been warped by two decades of CRT-based indoctrination, or you are simply a malicious racist spewing propaganda.
Critical Race Theory has never been a part of K-12 curricula in America. It’s never been taught to children, let alone forced on them.
Yes it has. Many schools now teach k-12 under the framework of Critical Race Theory.
They do not hand your students “Mapping the Margins” by Kimberly Crenshaw and are told to “study this”, Critical Race theory frameworks are widely used to educate your children.
If any k-12 student is taught in any class at any time that “disparate impacts are evidence of structural racism” they just got taught critical race theory.
So according to your line of thinking, redlining, Jim Crow, sundown cities, and everything else that has verifiably happened can’t be taught.
As theory yes; with counter theories also presented.
That’s the rub and we all know it – your acknowledgment is superfluous.
Critical Race; we all know it’s being foisted on students, regardless of what gaslighting shills say.
It was the same when they claimed Twitter wasnt colluding with the Biden, DNC, FBI & DOJ; until it’s proven it is.
Then, once it’s shown to be true, their tactic magically switches to “yeah, but so WHAT if it is being taught?”
No one expects the DNC operatives to admit to their shilling – just know we all clearly see their attempts to muddy the water for the tactics they are.
Much like election fraud, QAnon, and other unfounded beliefs of cultural conservatives, the idea that CRT is being taught in schools has no actual evidence. It’s an easy thing to prove, if it was actually happening, since public school curricula are available to anyone who asks. Spoiler alert: none of them include CRT.
It seems like the real problem is that the people who are angry about CRT don’t have the foggiest notion of what CRT actually is. They only know what outrage merchants peddle alongside dick pills and rations for survival bunkers.
You are ignorant of what things actually mean, which is why you are easily led by the nose. You are willing to accept what someone tells you, as long as it allows you to fill yourself with righteous rage.
Stop lying. There’s plenty of evidence CRT is taught in schools. It’s been presented here in the comments many times.
Now fuck off.
1. Reason: Who kept printing articles claiming that any action that wasn’t a first amendment actionable offense under law was not “censorship”.
This website should be renamed Baizou.com
CRT IS being shoved down children’s throats by cultural Marxists, mainly to destroy white children’s self worth as well as brainwash them into hating themselves for being white.
This has got to stop. The only way to deal with this is to fire every teacher, every school board, every Principle and Superintendent who pushes that neo-Marxist rubbish and replace them with those who will make sure that children get a proper education to motivate them into becoming responsible, contributing adults instead of whinny welfare slobs with six kids by six different men.
By the way, those who have been on welfare forever should not be allowed to vote. Not ever.
I never ceased to be amazed by the “pro-liberty” crowd loudly demanding less liberty for certain people.
Well, that’s because you have a Marxist conception of “liberty”, i.e. you are really a totalitarian.
A free society depends on limiting the freedom of government and its employees to act: we want government to be reduced to its bare minimum and we want strong restrictions placed on the ability of government employees to act as a condition of their employment, just like there are strong restrictions on private sector employees to act as a condition of employment.
Marxist. You keep using that word. It does not mean what you think it does.
No you don’t. You use it like progressives use the word racist.
You’re welcome to point out where you think I’m wrong. You might start by telling me what I mean by a “Marxist concept of liberty” and how you think that the actual “Marxist concept of liberty” differs from that. Go right ahead.
That CRT is now being banned across the country for what it really is: Racist, hateful and inciting violence towards white people. Not only that but the author is a fraud with a PHD that was obviously handed to him as a favor. That deplorable little book belongs into the same category as Mao’s little red book.
When people publish trash such a that it seems nowadays the liberal wallow in it.
That’s exactly what it is…trash. It needs to be ignored and repudiated to the utmost. The author needs to be investigated and exposed.
Parents have every right and duty to reject it and to have it removed from THEIR school just as they have the right and duty to have LGBTQXYZ indoctrination removed.
Progressives said the Gays just wanted to join unions and be left alone; the slippery slope argument was a “fallacy” but we know that’s a lie based on hindsight.
CRT is absolutely no different – they will attempt to erode the cultural foundation little by little. That’s why it’s SO DAMN important to cut off promoting these theories as Truth; which is what’s currently being done.
The disingenuous among these Commentariot will shill and split hairs and muddy waters; but we know the deal, and what’s up.
“Not only that but the author is a fraud”
Really? “The author” of CRT? The one person? Being that ignorant and that certain that you are right is like flashing neon signs pointing at your head that read “Clueless and angry”.
“It needs to be ignored”
It largely is, in academic circles, because it is a terrible, flawed theory. The people who keep marketing it are conservatives.
“have it removed from THEIR school”
And they can. If it ever makes it into their school, they can try to get it removed. As of now, it isn’t.
“Teachers have a First Amendment right to use classroom time to encourage third graders into mutilating their genitals.”
sin,
Emma
5 Infuriating Ways Woke Liberals Got the First Amendment Wrong in 2022
I am exercising my 1A by flagging all the SpamBots …
Ever since the comment function went glitchy, I haven’t been able to flag or mute the bots. Are my First Amendment rights being suppressed?
The first has no more protection form infringement than the second.
“We” told you that decades ago when “common sense gun control” got invented.
Alito never said you couldn’t yell it, he correctly said if you do, it’s not protected. If you want to use the Better known argument, then use better known as the 10th Amendment, and is totally constitutional and many would argue there is a moral imperative to pass such a law. There are no absolute rights anywhere, including one to film police under any circumstance. Speech that shuts down protected speech should be free, but not protected, i.e. it should be treated the same as if 100 people died after someone yelled fire in a crowded movie theater.
It’s also legal, and encouraged, to shout “Fire!” in a crowded theater if there actually is a fire…