Tag Free Speech

February 8, 2023

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• Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) and the Florida Department of Education have imposed sweeping new restrictions on books in public schools, both in libraries and in classrooms.
• Duval County Public Schools, which includes Jacksonville and the surrounding area, has enthusiastically embraced the task of complying with DeSantis’ new mandates.
• One book reviewed in Duval County and banned from school libraries was *The Best Man*, a book about a boy’s journey into the middle school years and the male role models in his life.
• The reviewer, Michelle DiBias, believes that, based on the book’s content, a teacher or librarian that made *The Best Man* available to students could be charged with a third-degree felony.
• Common Sense Media, an independent non-profit that evaluates books and other entertainment for parents and schools, gives *The Best Man* its lowest rating for “”Sex, Romance, & Nudity,”” meaning that reviewers found nothing objectionable.
• Duval County schools are also reviewing all books for compliance with the Parental Rights in Education Act, also known as “”Don’t Say Gay.””
• Books that have been rejected by Duval County schools, according to public records, include *Separate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez & Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation*, *My Name is Sally Little Song*, *Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag*, *Stonewall*, *10,000 Dresses*, and *The Flag of Childhood*.

Published February 8, 2023
Visit Popular Information to read Judd Legum’s original post This book is considered pornography in Ron DeSantis’ Florida

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Major corporations back book-banning North Dakota legislator [Judd Legum, Popular Information]

January 26, 2023

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• North Dakota House Majority Leader Mike Lefor (R) has proposed legislation that would prohibit public libraries from maintaining books with LGBTQ characters and themes.
• The legislation defines a “sexually explicit” book as one that contains a “visual depiction” of twelve items, including “sexual identity” and “gender identity.”
• Librarians argue that the legislation would require them to remove most books with LGBTQ characters, and that it promotes censorship and book bans.
• The legislation provides that librarians that make prohibited materials available would face “up to 30 days imprisonment” and a $1500 fine.
• Lefor introduced the legislation because the book “Let’s Talk About It: The Teen’s Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human” was available in public libraries.
• The legislation is likely unconstitutional, as the Supreme Court has ruled that governments are not permitted to remove materials from libraries because they disapprove of the content.
• Lefor is supported by some of the most prominent corporations in the United States, including Johnson & Johnson, AT&T, NextEra Energy, ConocoPhillips, and Marathon Petroleum.

Published January 26, 2023
Visit Popular Information to read Judd Legum’s original post Major corporations back book-banning North Dakota legislator

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Spill it [Judd Legum, Popular Information]

January 25, 2023

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• Popular Information has exposed an extraordinary assault on academic freedom in Florida.
• Bruce Friedman in Clay County has removed over 100 books from school libraries and is seeking to remove thousands more.
• Vicki Baggett in Escambia County is trying to ban 150 books from school libraries, including one about a legendary sprinter who overcame racial prejudice. Baggett allegedly said she opposed interracial marriage in class.
• Florida schools are using the “”Don’t Say Gay”” law to justify the erasure of LGBTQ people.
• Teachers in Manatee County are being told to make their classroom libraries inaccessible to students, or risk felony prosecution.

Published January 25, 2023
Visit Popular Information to read Judd Legum’s original post Spill it

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Florida teachers told to remove books from classroom libraries or risk felony prosecution [Judd Legum, Popular Information]

January 23, 2023

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• Teachers in Manatee County, Florida, are being told to make their classroom libraries inaccessible to students, or risk felony prosecution, in order to comply with new laws and regulations championed by Governor Ron DeSantis (R).
• The policy is based on the premise that teachers and librarians are using books to “”groom”” students or indoctrinate them with leftist ideologies.
• The law requires that all library books selected be free of pornography and material prohibited under s. 847.012, suited to student needs and their ability to comprehend the material presented, and appropriate for the grade level and age group for which the materials are used or made available.
• Teachers must make their classroom libraries inaccessible to students until they can establish that each book has been approved by a librarian.
• The process of restoring student access to classroom libraries is complex and requires cross-checking each book in their classroom library with the district library catalog, and any book not currently held in the district libraries must be individually evaluated and approved by a librarian.
• The review must also be consistent with a complex training, which was heavily influenced by right-wing groups like Moms For Liberty and approved by the Florida Department of Education just last week.
• The Parental Rights In Education Act prohibits all instruction on “”sexual orientation or gender identity”” in K-3 classrooms and instruction in other grades that is “”not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate.””
• The teacher training approved by the Florida Department of Education, however, does not inform librarians that the Parental Rights in Education Act and Stop WOKE ACT do not apply to library books.
• Manatee County schools have already removed several books from school libraries because they contain LGBTQ characters or themes.

Published January 23, 2023
Visit Popular Information to read Judd Legum’s original post Florida teachers told to remove books from classroom libraries or risk felony prosecution

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Can I Wear a MAGA Hat To My Government Job? [Ken White, Popehat]

January 12, 2023

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• The Ninth Circuit recently ruled in Dodge v. Evergreen School District that Eric Dodge, a sixth-grade teacher from Vancouver, Washington, was entitled to a trial on his claim that school district officials violated his First Amendment rights by threatening to discipline him for wearing a MAGA hat to teacher training.
• The First Amendment protects public employees differently depending on whether the government is wearing its sovereign hat or its employer hat.
• To show a violation of the First Amendment, a public employee must show that the state actor engaged in an “adverse employment action” against the plaintiff as a result of their speech.
• The government must establish that it had a legitimate administrative interest in preventing or punishing the speech that outweighed the employee’s interest in exercising their First Amendment rights.
• The more the employee’s speech resembles core First Amendment expression (like political speech), the harder it is for the government to make this showing.
• Even when First Amendment rights are violated, there may not be a remedy due to the judicially created doctrine of “qualified immunity.”

Published January 12, 2023. Visit Popehat to read Ken White’s original post.

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How DEI Is Supplanting Truth as the Mission of American Universities [John Sailer, The Free Press]

In [The Free Press]

January 9, 2023

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• UCLA accounting lecturer Gordon Klein was placed on leave and banned from campus after refusing to grade black students more leniently in the wake of the George Floyd protests.
• After a counter-petition signed by more than 76,000 people, Klein was allowed to return to the classroom.
• The principles of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) have become guiding principles in higher education, valued as equal to or even more important than the basic function of the university.
• DEI has become a priority for many of the organizations that accredit universities, and universities are pressured to adopt DEI measures.
• College students are now required to take DEI, anti-racism, or social justice courses, and DEI is becoming a de facto academic discipline.
• Faculty position listings at universities across the country illustrate how a focus on race, gender, social justice, and critical theory can be crucial to landing a job.
• DEI initiatives are becoming increasingly prevalent in higher education, with many universities now considering faculty members’ contributions to DEI as a criterion for hiring, promotion, and tenure.
• The federal government is also doing its part to infuse DEI into the sciences, with the Department of Energy’s Office of Science mandating that all new research proposals include a Promoting Inclusive and Equitable Research (PIER) Plan.
• This fixation on DEI can have a stultifying effect on medical research, and eventually medical care, as it crowds out other, more consequential areas of scientific research.
• Jonathan Haidt, a professor of ethical leadership at New York University’s Stern School of Business, has warned about this redefinition of racism and the rise of ideological groupthink in academia.
• Organizations such as the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) and the National Association of Scholars have issued numerous statements opposing DEI requirements that violate the First Amendment.

Published January 9, 2023. Visit The Free Press to read the original post.

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Hamline University And Cancel Culture [Ken White, The Popehat Report]

January 5, 2023

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• Hamline University’s decision to not renew the contract of an art history lecturer who showed an image of the Prophet Muhammad in class is an example of “cancel culture” – a response that is disproportionate to the speech in question.
• Hamline’s communications about the incident, which downplayed free expression and academic freedom, were also an example of “cancel culture”.
• Hamline’s student newspaper, the Oracle, engaged in “cancel culture” by deleting a statement from the chair of the Department of Religion defending the lecturer.
• Actionable items to address this type of “cancel culture” include: not firing, disciplining, or non-renewing teachers based on violating sectarian religious rules unless the teachers and students know up front they’re under those rules; not condemning pedagogically appropriate and on-point teaching to soothe sectarian demands; and not issuing vague, ambiguous, and unworkable speech “standards”.
• Student newspapers at non-sectarian schools should not delete defenses of speech because some people think it’s offensive to disagree about whether the speech is offensive.
• The Hamline students’ response to a lecturer showing a picture of the Prophet Muhammad was disproportionate and censorial, and can be fairly called “cancel culture”.
• Demanding that the lecturer be fired, not renewed, or disciplined is wildly disproportionate and should not be condoned.
• Saying “as a Muslim I find visual depictions of the Prophet offensive and blasphemous” is not cancel culture.
• Throwing around the word “Islamophobia” is censorial, entitled, and ignorant, but not wildly disproportionate.
• The criticism of the lecturer is indecent, as the lecturer showed sensitivity and explained the pedagogical context.
• This incident is a huge culture war victory for the anti-progressive Right.

Published January 5, 2023. Visit The Popehat Report to read Ken White’s original post.

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Clarifying Some Common First Amendment Terminology [Ken White, The Popehat Report]

Visit The Popehat Report to read Ken White’s original post

December 30, 2022

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When First Amendment experts say “First Amendment exception,” they’re generally referring to the limited, historical set of exceptions to the First Amendment that allow the government to limit speech based on its content.
The exceptions aren’t exceptions to the proposition “the government can’t do anything to restrict anything that might be understood as speech,” because that’s not the rule.
When we say “this is a First Amendment issue” or “the First Amendment applies to this dispute,” we’re saying “there’s a set of law based on the First Amendment that you have to apply to this dispute to resolve it.”
This doesn’t mean “the person speaking automatically wins” any more than “you have a right to trial by jury if you’re charged with a crime” means that you have a right to be found not guilty.
We have to apply the relevant First Amendment test to determine if the speech falls into the incitement exception to the First Amendment.

Published December 30, 2022

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“The First Amendment Isn’t Absolute.” Sure, But So What? [Ken White, Serious Matters]