Jeremiah Gutman, a dedicated champion of the First Amendment and Chair of the National Coalition Against Censorship, died on February 25, 2004 in Westchester County, New York at age 80. He had been an officer of the Board of Directors of NCAC since the 1980s, first as General Counsel and then as Co-Chair before assuming the Chair in 2001.
As we go to press, the Federal Election Commission is poised to consider whether non-profits should be treated like "political committees," subject to funding and spending restrictions.
NCAC is sponsoring a national contest for young filmmakers on the theme of Free Speech and Democracy. The goal of the contest is to showcase the creative work of young people and to promote awareness of the basic principles of freedom.
Your winter issue of Censorship News carried an article in Views on the News by Joan Bertin about campaign finance reform which states that "it is premature to declare the decision [by the Supreme Court, largely upholding the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002] a 'win' or a 'loss' for the First Amendment."
The sculpture, Holier Than Thou, provoked heated criticism that it is offensive to Catholics. Critics say the Bishop's miter is overtly phallic and his expression too dour.
The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said in September, 2003, that trade embargoes apply to scientific and literary manuscripts by authors from Iran, Cuba, Iraq, Libya and Sudan unless they are "camera ready." Government permission would be needed even for routine edits such as correcting spelling or grammar, or reordering sentences and paragraphs.
A Congressional effort to impose oversight power over some academic programs has passed in the House of Representatives and is being considered by a Senate committee. At issue are area studies programs which the federal government has funded to increase understanding of foreign cultures, languages and politics, and to overcome a shortage of translators and specialists in international affairs. HR 3077, the International Studies in Higher Education Act of 2003, intended to fund studies of strategic importance to the U.S., particularly targets Middle Eastern studies programs. It would establish an advisory board to oversee these programs, ostensibly to make sure that they are not "biased."
In Fall 2003, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Treasury Department issued an opinion that trade embargoes against countries such as Iran, Cuba, Iraq, Libya and Sudan prohibit publishers from editing scientific and literary manuscripts by residents of those countries and restrict other academic and intellectual collaborations. Free Speech proponents are pushing for the elimination of these restrictions. [...]