EclectEcon

Economics and the mid-life crisis have much in common: Both dwell on foregone opportunities

C'est la vie; c'est la guerre; c'est la pomme de terre                                     A View from/of the Econochasm by John Palmer

Richard Posner deserves the next Nobel Prize in Economics
Please consider using these links if you are ordering from Amazon: Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.uk

<< main
A Clear Case for Limitations on Freedom of Speech
One of the clearest cases for limiting free speech is the famous phrase from Oliver Wendell Holmes about, "...falsely shouting 'fire' in a crowded theatre... " Another is the instigation to commit murder or other crimes. And a related case might involve urging genocide and supporting those who espouse it. From Melanie Phillips,
This is what happened on the streets of London yesterday. A demonstration organised by Iranian Islamists promoting the destruction of Israel, in which people called for the killing of Jews and waved Hezbollah flags. The police provide protection for such a demonstration on the basis that people are entitled to march provided they are not breaking the law. They ignore the fact that such incitement to murder is indeed against the law; they fail to grasp that a parade of Hezbollah flags is a recruiting device for Islamists; they refuse to acknowledge that such a demonstration is an flagrant act of intimidation by proxies for a terrorist regime which is currently blowing up our troops in Iraq, threatening genocide against Israel and intent on defeating the west in war. Welcome once again to Londonistan.
While this situation falls short of the "clear and imminent danger" criterion for abrogating free speech, I see no reason to permit the demonstrators to use public property while promoting their ideas. After all, freedom of speech does not require that all taxpayers provide scarce resources for the exercise of that free speech.
Category: Academic (& other) Freedom, Anti-Semitism, International Affairs, Israel Posted on Thursday, October 11, 2007 at 1:11pm
<< main






To leave a comment, please post as "guest"
KipEsquire (mail) (www):
FYI: The "clear and present danger" case in which Holmes coined the phrase (Schenck v. U.S.) was later overturned by Brandenburg v. Ohio and its "imminent lawlessness test."

As for public property / taxpayer resources, etc., the U.S. test ("the O'Brien test") is quite simple to state, if not so simple to apply: viewpoint-based restrictions on speech or protest are wholly impermissible in a public or quasi-public forum. Reasonable time/place/manner restrictions are permissible, but they must be absolutely viewpoint-neutral.

Cheers...
10.11.2007 2:10pm
timworstall (mail) (www):
"I see no reason to permit the demonstrators to use public property while promoting their ideas. After all, freedom of speech does not require that all taxpayers provide scarce resources for the exercise of that free speech."

Err, well, under UK law, the spectrum is public property. So, err, under your formulation, they can't phone each other to exercise their free speech. A touch harsh, don't you think?
10.11.2007 3:36pm
© 2005