Did the College Board Cave to Political Pressure Over AP History?
After months of pressure, the College Board has released a new framework for teaching AP US History. Does this mean the political pressure tactics worked?
Untangling the Steven Salaita Case
By now, the controversy over University of Illinois Chancellor Phyllis Wise's August 1, 2014 decision to terminate the faculty appointment of Professor Steven Salaita has gone viral. A multitude of opinions have poured forth from blogs, news stories, editorials, and protest letters. The debate brings into focus the continuing problem of efforts by adamantly pro-Israel groups to suppress campus protests [...]
Policing Art
Student artists are tackling police brutality-- and police groups aren't happy about it. Unfortunately, some schools are reacting by removing the work.
Policing Expression: NJ School Removes Student Project
A student project on police and community relations angers local cops-- and school administrators respond by removing it.
Police Groups React to ‘Don’t Shoot’ Library Art
Provocative art about police brutality in a Madison, Wisconsin library is causing controversy.
Why the Transformation of May Day into Loyalty Day is Troubling
Workers around the world are celebrated on May Day. But here in the United States it's actually "Loyalty Day"-- a reminder of some of the darkest days of cultural and political censorship.
Banning the Bomb, Then and Now
In 1950 the US government burned copies of a magazine because they said it revealed the country's nuclear secrets. A similar dispute is playing out right now — this time without the same kinds of censorship and legal threats.
A Brief History of the Censored Oscars
NCAC counts down some of the most egregious cases of censorship in the history of the Oscars — a reminder that the show can often serve as an open, free platform for people to speak out and raise awareness about important issues.
Taking the Power Back: Musicians Stand Up For “Illegal” Rap in Arizona
Is teaching hip-hop lyrics against the law in Arizona schools? Thanks to a controversial law about ethnic studies programs, the answer would seem to be yes.
Labor Art Censored? Canceled Mural Controversy at the Museum of the City of New York
Is the Museum of the City of New York censoring labor art--or merely exercising proper curatorial judgment?
Untangling the Steven Salaita Case
By now, the controversy over University of Illinois Chancellor Phyllis Wise's August 1, 2014 decision to terminate the faculty appointment of Professor Steven Salaita has gone viral. A multitude of opinions have poured forth from blogs, news stories, editorials, and protest letters. The debate brings into focus the continuing problem of efforts by adamantly pro-Israel groups to suppress campus protests [...]
Abortion Protests vs. Abortion Rights: One More Time (And Probably Not the Last Time)
Pitting one constitutional right against another is never easy, and it is particularly difficult when one of the rights at issue is the politically and emotionally charged issue of abortion rights. At the end of June, the Supreme Court struck down a Massachusetts law establishing a 35 foot “buffer zone” around abortion clinics, enacted in response to a history of [...]
Then and Now: Old Glory Under Fire
“Yes, that is my flag. I burned it. If they let that happen to Meredith, we don’t need an American flag.” Sidney Street’s reaction to the attempted assassination of civil rights leader James Meredith on a summer afternoon in 1965 led to his arrest, but in his actions and proclamation to police officers, Street put a spotlight on the very ideals of freedom and democracy that the flag purports to represent.
“What Ails the Agencies for Which They Work”: The Parlous State of Public Employee Free Speech Law
Commentary The Supreme Court last week took a small step toward limiting the damage done to the First Amendment by its controversial 2006 decision in Garcetti v. Ceballos. The Court in Garcetti denied First Amendment protection to a public employee (there, an assistant prosecutor) who had blown the whistle on police misconduct (in that case, fraudulent search warrants). The prosecutor was punished [...]
“What Ails the Agencies for Which They Work”: The Parlous State of Public Employee Free Speech Law
The Supreme Court last week took a small step toward limiting the damage done to the First Amendment by its controversial 2006 decision in Garcetti v. Ceballos. The Court in Garcetti denied First Amendment protection to a public employee (there, an assistant prosecutor) who had blown the whistle on police misconduct (in that case, fraudulent search warrants). The prosecutor was punished for [...]
MD State Legislators Take Aim at Protected Political Expression and Activity at State Colleges and Universities
The National Coalition Against Censorship and the American Association of University Professors criticize academic boycotts, but warn public officials against interference with political expression and open discussion and debate.
EFF Statement on Dismissal of 11 Charges Against Barrett Brown
The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas today filed a motion to dismiss 11 charges against Barrett Brown in a criminal prosecution that would have had massive implications for journalism and the right of ordinary people to share links. EF...
NCAC Statement Regarding MD Legislative Proposals H.B. 998 and S.B. 647
Open debate, the right to dissent, and freedom of association are core First Amendment values that are directly threatened by legislative efforts to penalize organizations like ASA for their political positions.
NY State Legislators Take Aim at Protected Political Expression and Activity at State Colleges and Universities
National Coalition Against Censorship criticizes academic boycotts, but warns public officials against interference with political expression and open discussion and debate. The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) issued a statement on Wednesday in opposition to state legislative proposals (A.8392a and S.6438) that would "penalize professional associations and their members for engaging in protected political activity," according to NCAC Executive Director Joan Bertin. [...]
Listen to the Pete Seeger Song Once Deemed Too Political for American Television
Iconic American musician Pete Seeger was censored by CBS over an anti-war song he wanted to perform on the Smother Brothers TV show.
Dramatists Guild to Washington DC’s Embattled Theater J: “Stand Strong”
NCAC participating organizations the Dramatists Guild and the Dramatists Legal Defense Fund have sent a letter (PDF embed below) to Theater J in Washington DC in support of the venue's staging of Motti Lerner's The Admission. A group called Citizens Opposed to Propaganda Masquerading as Art has waged a smear campaign to vilify the play as anti-Israel. The reason we dramatists feel so strongly about this [...]
NCAC Joins Amicus Brief in Lawsuit Challenging Arizona’s Ethnic Studies ban
NCAC has partnered with the Freedom To Read Foundation and other library, education, and free speech organizations in filing an amicus brief with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Arce v. Huppenthal, arguing that a statute which led to the disbanding of Tucson’s Mexican American Studies (MAS) program violates Arizona students’ First Amendment rights.
Guardian Op-Ed: What’s more important? Protecting the flag, or the freedoms it stands for?
Read Svetlana Mintcheva's op-ed in the Guardian on how a successful component of a college credit art history class at McCracken County High School in Paducah, Kentucky has been cancelled because of a controversy provoked by an art installation involving the United States flag.
SCOTUS Bans Demonstrations on Grounds
The following post was written by NCAC's summer legal intern, Ryan Gander. Ryan is a current student at Columbia Law School. His interests include philosophy, civil liberties, science fiction, and video games. The Supreme Court has a troubled relationship with the First Amendment and that’s not even talking about what goes on in the courtroom. Since 1949, federal law has [...]
NCAC Condemns Use of Gov’t Purse Strings to Threaten Academic Freedom at Brooklyn College BDS Event
This attempt to control public discussion and debate about Israel and Palestine reveals a deep disregard for freedom of speech and the constitutional obligations of public officials.
Artists Speak Out Against Cancellation of Amiri Baraka Talk at Caldwell College
The staff at The Visceglia Gallery were very much looking forward to the opening of its GET IT ON THE RECORD exhibit, a collection of works by twenty-one African-American artists investigating the "collective history of Black America." As part of the exhibit, poet Amiri Baraka had been invited to speak. That invitation was rescinded, however, because the College President and others [...]
NY Times Accused of Spinning Mass Arrest
As #OccupyWallSt continues just blocks from NCAC's offices, Twitter user @FreeSpkr sent us a link to a screenshot being passed around in the wake of Sunday's mass arrest of 700+ protestors on the Brooklyn Bridge:
MECA Outmaneuvers MOCHA, Shows Palestinian Youth Art Across From Original Gallery
From Indybay.org: The Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) and supporters protested the decision by the Museum of Children's Art (MOCHA) to cancel the exhibit "A Child's View From Gaza" under pressure from Zionist organizations. MOCHA held firm that they would not allow the exhibit. MECA announced that the exhibit would open on the originally scheduled date anyway, outside rather than [...]
CUNY Likely to Reverse On Kushner, But The Pattern Stands
A Seattle billboard removed by Clear Channel Outdoor It is appalling that the trustees of CUNY voted not to bestow an honorary degree on Tony Kushner, the acclaimed Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, because a trustee disagreed with his views on Israel. Denying him this honor solely because of his political views violates core First Amendment principles and is [...]
Tony Kushner’s Politics Attacked at CUNY, Work Attacked in California
Although the CUNY Board Of Trustees reversed its decision to deny an honorary degree to Pulitzer-winning playwrite Tony Kushner, there remains a pattern of retaliation against academics who openly critique Middle East politics.
Worldwide Protests For Ai Weiwei’s Release
Demonstrators all over the world were sitting outside Chinese embassies on Sunday demanding the release of the detained Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.
Call For Imediate Release of Ai Weiwei
The arrest of Ai Weiwei at Beijing Capital Airport on April 3 is an assault on socially engaged artists everywhere. Read NCAC's statement and find out how to add your voice.
The 8th Dirty Word
In today’s current political climate, a taboo-challenging novel may begin this way,
“Labor, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. La-bor the tip of the tongue taking a trip of two steps down the palate to tap, on two, through the lips. La. Bor…”
Senators Call For Response to Idiotic Burning of Qur’an, But What Kind?
A couple weeks ago, Terry Jones finally gave into his burning desire to burn a Qur'an. Over the weekend, Afghans rioted over online video of the burning, resulting in the deaths of up to 20 people. General Petreus called the burning a "security threat" to the Afghan occupation, and Senators Harry Reid and Lindsay Graham have called for Congress to [...]
Voluntary Surveilance, Crowdsourced Censors
On Wednesday we featured an RSAnimate video about mutual knowledge as an essential element of dissent, as demonstrated by Wikileaks. Today we feature an RSAnimate on how authoritarian regimes can leverage dissent on the Internet for their own end: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk8x3V-sUgU The speaker, Evgeny Morozov, notes a few phenomena of interest. First, in China, how blogs critical of local governance are [...]
NCAC Joins Brief in Snyder v. Phelps
In July, 2010, NCAC joins The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, The Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project, and The Pennsylvania Center for The First Amendment in a friend of the court brief in the Supreme Court in support of the right to protest.
NCAC, ACLU and AAUP File Brief In Ward Churchill Case
The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Colorado, American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and NCAC submitted a brief on Februrary 18, 2010, to a Colorado Court of Appeals arguing that the University of Colorado, a publicly funded university, should reinstate a tenured professor who was wrongly terminated from his job there for exercising his right to free speech.
Political Opinions: “A good enough reason” to ban books?
In the children’s book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, the title character answers the question of the title with, “I see a red bird looking at me.” For one member of the elected Texas Board of Education, the bird’s color could have been confirmation of her suspicion that the picture book promoted Communism. But then again, Board [...]
“Pall of Orthodoxy”: The Insidious Persistence of Loyalty Oaths
A recent incident in California has dramatized the insidious persistence of loyalty oaths for public employment in America. These oaths of allegiance originated in the days of King Henry VIII of England, when treasonous plots and religious wars threatened royal hegemony. They survive today as coerced rituals of political orthodoxy, and as threats to free thought. The latest casualty is [...]
Fact Sheet on Political Dissent and Censorship
In the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and of U.S. government efforts to combat terrorism by often secretive or constitutionally dubious means, questions have arisen about the scope of First Amendment protection for political protest and dissent. This Fact Sheet, originally prepared for a November 2006 conference on "Civil Liberties in a Paranoid Society," outlines the [...]