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Bamabucknut said...
Seems we all have free speech ...as long as it doesn't offend those granting it. Read on...
TEA PARTY SUES TO ENSURE EQUAL ACCESS TO SCHOOL FACILITIES
Mansfield, OH (April 6, 2011) – In a lawsuit filed yesterday in federal court, the Mansfield North Central Ohio Tea Party Association claims that the Mansfield Board of Education and its superintendent violated the federal civil rights of the tea party and its members when they allowed opposition to a proposed speaker dictate a decision to deny the Tea Party the use of the high school auditorium.
Last Monday, on March 28, the Mansfield North Central Ohio Tea Party Association was scheduled to host a seminar by Usama Dakdok entitled “Freedom or Surrender” at the auditorium of the Mansfield Senior High School. Despite the fact that the auditorium is regularly made available to private organizations and the Tea Party had reserved the auditorium weeks in advance, on the morning of the scheduled event, Mansfield School Superintendent Dan Freund withdrew the previously granted permission to utilize the auditorium.
The decision by Superintendent Freund to deny the Tea Party the use of the auditorium came about only after vocal opposition to the seminar by Mr. Dakdok was spearheaded by the Cleveland Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Mansfield Chapter of the NAACP and other organizations.
“We believe that it is readily apparent and that the evidence will only further confirm that the decision of Superintendent Freund to cancel the Tea Party’s event was based solely upon and in reaction to the efforts of CAIR and other organizations to stifle Mr. Dakdok from making his presentation,” stated Curt Hartman, a Cincinnati-area attorney who is representing the Tea Party in the federal lawsuit. Mr. Hartman continued, “The Supreme Court has made clear that speech cannot be punished or banned simply because it might offend a hostile mob. To allow a heckler’s veto to rule the day, as Superintendent Freund apparently did, is repugnant to the First Amendment. Aheckler's veto is an impermissible content-based restriction on speech where the speech is prohibited due to an anticipated disorderly or violent reaction of the audience.
“As an organization, we recognize and appreciate that an informed citizenry is key to our representative democracy,” stated Bonnie Oleksa, founder of the Mansfield North Central Ohio Tea Party Association. “As a responsible and involved citizenry, we should be striving and promoting free and open debate, including critically examining alternative or different points of view. If one disagrees with another person’s position on a topic, the remedy is not to stifle those points of view with which we disagree, but, rather, to promote and encourage more speech.”
Superintendent Fruend announced his decision at a press conference held at the board of education’s office on March 28. This press conference was followed immediately by another press conference also at the board’s office, this time with CAIR, the local chapter of the NAACP and other groups participating. As Mr. Hartman noted, “The irony (or, perhaps, hypocrisy) of this should not be lost. At the same time that the school district and Superintendent Freud were providing a forum for CAIR and the NAACP to engage in First Amendment-protected speech criticizing the Tea Party, Mr. Dakdok, and the anticipated content of the seminar by Mr. Dakdok, the School District was refusing to provide a forum for the Tea Party and Mr. Dakdok to engage in their own speech-related activities protected by the First Amendment.”
The federal lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Cleveland Division, case no. 1:11-cv-677, and is styled Mansfield North Central Ohio Tea Party v. Board of Education of the Mansfield City School District. The case has been assigned to Judge Patricia Gaughan. For more information, contact, Curt Hartman, Esq., (513) 752-8800.
This post was edited by Buckeye Warrior on 4/11/2011 at 9:16 AM
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Buckeye Warrior said...
That wan't the point. I am a Conservative but would not dream of stopping the Left from having their annual marches or their rallies. The Left likes to have their Freedom Of Speech and then go about shutting down opposing voices. They always have. The American Right tolerates an opposing point of view where the American Left does not and actively tries to stop an opposing point of view. Just look at college campuses. They are dominated by Liberal professors and Liberal groups. As soon as a Conservative tries to speak, they are shouted down or have loons storm the stage to protest.
I agree that no one from the Left was going to be at the Tea Party event, so why did they actively try to shut it down and succeed in shutting it down?
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cmcandr said...
You could say the left did a good job using their free speech and getting it pushed out, they have the right to do that, so you can't blame them. I would disagree on the whole idea that the right tolerates opposing views, bombing abortion clinics in the past or shooting doctors is not exactly tolerance. Nor is trying to stop gay rallies which has happened as well. My guess is the superintendent was scared by the two groups on how it may damage his appearance as the district leader and feared future ousting.
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Buckeye Warrior said...
Isolated incidents by the Right is far different from what they Left COMMONLY does. How often does and abortionist (not a "doctor") get shot or a clinic get bombed? Very rarely. How many times has the Right stopped Gay rallies? None that I can think of. But the Left ALWAYS tries to stop any Conservative from speaking or having an event.
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Bamabucknut said...
cmcandr
Your logic is so flawed it's almost laughable.Picking out a few individuals who broke the law and have been punished and smearing an entire movement as being of the same ilk ! ? How transparent...how laughable..how insulting to the people who come to these boards and expect reasoned commentary and thought...not vindictive comments cast on any who you deem worthy of them with nothing of substance to back them up.
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cmcandr said...
They try to stop them, which is still doing the same thing, and the guy was a doctor whether you agree with what he did or not. Stopping a meeting that can be held virtually anywhere is worse than any type of bombing, no matter how often. Not sure where the left frequently stops the right from speaking other than this post. Where are they on that crazy god hates fags church?
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Buckeye Warrior said...
I guess, at least I hope, we can agree that all speech should be allowed. I don't always agree with the NAACP or CAIR, but I would never try to stop them from having a meeting or a rally. I hope that you disagree with the Superintendant's decision to shut down the Tea party's rally.
As far as the 4 loons who call themselves "Westboro Baptist Church" and hold up those vile signs, I HATE those people. I HATE what they stand for and what they are doing. As a former Soldier, the things they say (I still don't understand what dead soldiers have to do with Gay's) really cut deep. But Free Speech is Free Speech and I think the Supreme Court got it right.
I aim to please...to bad I have bad aim.....
Tea Party Sues Mansfield Board of Education