Issue 88, Winter 2002/2003 by Joan E. Bertin New Yorkers learned a lot about the First Amendment from former Mayor Giuliani. He was sued for infringing free speech more than any mayor in memory, and maybe in history. Ironically this became a living civics lesson. Even those who disagreed vehemently with the message supported the KKK's right to demonstrate peaceably [...]
Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that non-obscene speech is protected online, as it is in print (ACLU v. Reno). To circumvent the ruling, in October Congress enacted the "Child Online Protection Act."
NCAC mourns the loss of two long-time Board members, Samuel Rabinove and Nanette Roberts.
Teaching Sex, by Jeffrey Moran, recently published, provides a timely historical overview on the politics of sexuality education.
Michigan's "cussing canoeist" was recently vindicated when the state appeals court struck down a 105-year-old law banning vulgar language in front of women and children. Timothy Boomer was convicted in 1998, after cursing when he fell out of his canoe.
Other News from the Courts -- Not So Go
The Supreme Court has declined to hear teacher Cissy Lacks' appeal.
The Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996 which bans sexual depictions of anyone who "appears to be" younger than 18, was upheld by the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston--overturning a lower court's ruling that the law is unconstitutionally vague and could prohibit legal adult pornography.
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Virginia law that restricts state employees from accessing sexually related materials online.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson was drowned out by protestors at the recent international AIDS conference in Barcelona. This is ironic, given the Administration's track record of suppressing speech about sexuality and sexual health.
Schools and libraries receiving federal discounts for Internet service will be required to install censoring software on their computers if the Children's Internet Protection Act, S. 97, is passed.
Last week, the Middle East Forum launched "Campus Watch" to condemn what it calls academic bias on the Middle East; a professor identified on the site was barraged with threatening e-mails.
College campuses erupted recently over a controversial ad that appeared in some student newspapers. The ad, written and paid for by conservative activist David Horowitz, opposes reparations for descendants of slaves.
A decision from a federal appeals court in September sharply limits the First Amendment rights of university journalists in the Sixth Circuit. The decision has stunned advocates for student media and free expression.
Aristophanes' plays were banned in the 5th century B.C. because of obscenity and anti-war themes; Confucius's writings were incinerated around 250 B.C. after a change of dynasty made them politically incorrect.
New Yorkers learned a lot about the First Amendment from former Mayor Giuliani. He was sued for infringing free speech more than any mayor in memory, and maybe in history. Ironically this became a living civics lesson.
Simon Taylor, curator at the Guild Hall Museum of East Hampton, Long Island was fired midway through a successful exhibition, "Personal and Political: The Women's Art Movement, 1969-1975."
A Human Rights Watch study of abstinence-only-until-marriage programs in Texas documents the risks to young people from withholding life-saving HIV prevention information.
Last week, the Middle East Forum launched "Campus Watch" to condemn what it calls academic bias on the Middle East; a professor identified on the site was barraged with threatening e-mails.
A federal appeals court in California caused a political firestorm when it ruled that public schools may not include the words "under God," which were added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954, when students recite the Pledge. The Ninth Circuit has stayed the decision; an appeal is expected.
I for one am glad that the Pledge of Allegiance has been thrown into the ash heap by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. If I wanted to join a secret society replete with oaths, clubby handshakes and ceremony, I'd seek out the Shriners, Elks or some other club.
The revelation that literary selections on the New York English Language Arts Regents exams have been routinely censored—without permission or acknowledgment—has outraged authors, educators, librarians, publishers, parents, and many others.
NCAC salutes New York parent Jeanne Heifetz, for her initiative and persistence in documenting the censorship on the New York English Language Arts Regents exams.
Letter from Cathy Popkin, Lionel Trilling Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University, to NYS Education Commissioner Richard Mills on 5/16/02
There are many reasons to be concerned about the controversy over Judith Levine's forthcoming book, Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex (U. Minn. Press, 2002). It is not only the calls to censor the book that are alarming, but the threat to censor sex education and discussion of teen sexuality.
Vanessa Leggett, the freelance journalist who was jailed in Texas for refusing to give government prosecutors confidential source material, is the recipient of the prestigious 2002 PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award, which carries a $25,000 prize. The award cites Leggett "as a powerful example of personal conviction and courage in the face of the most extreme pressure and a hero in the effort to preserve investigative freedom for writers and journalists in the U.S."
In a victory for book buyers' right to remain anonymous "and free from governmental interference," the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the Tattered Cover bookstore need not reveal customer records since there was no compelling need for the information.
Kudos to Ida Deyton and her crusade to remove Harry Potter from our schools. To further her agenda, I propose that we have an old-fashioned book burning—a real night of family fun!
Jo List, a passionate supporter of the First Amendment and NCAC's Co-Chair for the past ten years, died on November 17 in Connecticut. Jo was a committed civil libertarian who worked to advance fundamental human rights—freedom of speech and religion, racial equality, environmental issues and peace.
While military tribunals raise questions primarily about criminal justice, they also threaten First Amendment principles, rights and values. They can effectively "gag" defendants, undermine the ability of the press to report and the public's right to know about critical events, and shield the government from scrutiny—all principles that are basic to democracy.
They've held blood drives, staged unity vigils, and offered scholarships to the children of the victims. Clearly, in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, colleges—along with the rest of the nation—have shown an unparalleled generosity. They've also exhibited stunning intolerance.
In an elegant tribute to open government, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the government may not conduct secret deportation hearings without proving the need for secrecy—a decision which expands First Amendment rights of access to the press and the public. The case, Detroit Free Press v. Ashcroft, was brought by four Michigan newspapers and Congressman John Conyers, Jr. who are seeking to attend the deportation hearings brought against Ann Arbor resident Rabih Haddad.
Here in New York, there were a few sources of comfort in the weeks after September 11: victims, firefighters, police and other rescue workers heroically risked, and some lost, their lives for others. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (even though he's not so hot on the First Amendment) provided notable leadership to New Yorkers coping with unprecedented disaster.
The 11th Circuit found that Alice Randall's novel, re-telling Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind from the slaves' point of view, is a parody, an important element of Randall's "fair use" defense to copyright infringement claims.
Here in New York, there were a few sources of comfort in the weeks after September 11: victims, firefighters, police and other rescue workers heroically risked, and some lost, their lives for others. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (even though he's not so hot on the First Amendment) provided notable leadership to New Yorkers coping with unprecedented disaster.
A San Antonio arts organization won a major victory for public funding of the arts when a district court judge ruled that city officials violated the First Amendment by denying the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center a $62,000 grant in 1997, contrary to the recommendations of its own arts council (Censorship News 70, 67). Esperanza'a nonprofit cultural arts and education [...]
NCAC and other free speech advocates have jointly launched a public education campaign to inform legislators, educators, policy-makers and others about the threat to First Amendment principles from publicly-funded "abstinence-only" sex education.
Margaret Mitchell wrote Gone With the Wind in 1936. Now, Alice Randall, an African-American author and songwriter, has written a book called The Wind Done Gone, which re-tells the story through the eyes of slaves.
Political scandals aside, Washington lawmakers are shy about sex—at least when it comes to education and public policy. So shy, as a matter of fact, that in 1996 they sneaked into law, with no discussion, a half-billion dollars of state and federal money for school districts that teach that the only acceptable sexual behavior outside marriage is abstinence.
From the Senate Office Buildings to exhibition spaces on both coasts, nudes are becoming taboo. In Lake Alfred, Florida you can find a replica of Michelangelo's David wearing a loincloth; in Santa Cruz, California, watercolors of nudes were unpalatable to a community arts center director; in Spokane, Washington, a mural of stylized human figures was painted over.
A welcome decision from the federal Appeals Court for the Sixth Circuit in Kincaid v. Gibson restored First Amendment rights to Kentucky State University and other college students.
In Utah, a full-time official enforces the state's obscenity laws, and stores rent expurgated-only videos.
We recently received a request for help responding to a proposed policy to ban "racially offensive" books from the high school curriculum. As readers of CN know, Huck Finn is a perennial target for censorship because the word "nigger" repeatedly appears in it.