Friday, July 23, 2004

Teen's Poem Not a Threat, Justices Rule: "Declaring that school safety and free speech are 'not necessarily antagonistic goals,' the California Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously overturned the felony conviction of a high school student whose violence-laced poem had been deemed a criminal threat."

Thankfully, reason returns.

Even when I was in the military, the importance of free speech was recognized. There were many, many things you couldn't say in the course of your official duties unless someone asked for your opinion. As soon as that happened, you were pretty much free to say whatever you wanted. The military understood order and discipline, but also understood that the right to freely express ones opinions was one of the things we were defending. So as soon as you were asked for an opinion, you could speak freely.

A lot of people have trouble telling fantasy from reality. An overwhelming majority doesn't. This is not the tyranny of the majority, this is the majority apeasing the minority because it's politically incorrect to point out their failings. Finally, the court puts it back on track -- poetry isn't inherently threatening, no matter who feels threatened by it.

No comments:

Post a Comment