Daily Archives: March 1, 2012

28-02-2012 10:33 Brian Todd reports on a fiery debate over free speech based on a Muslim confrontation with an Atheist.

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CNN: Free speech rights debated over Atheist vs. Muslim - Video

28-02-2012 17:22 the liberal left's agenda against free speech.

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The President's Security Force....the liberal left's agenda against free speech. - Video

By Patricia Hurtado - Wed Feb 29 17:38:41 GMT 2012

Lynne F. Stewart, the lawyer imprisoned for helping an incarcerated Egyptian cleric pass messages to his terrorist followers, told a U.S. appeals court her 10-year sentence is punishment for exercising her free- speech rights.

The attorney was found guilty by a jury in 2005 of helping her former client, the blind sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, smuggle messages out of a high-security prison after he was convicted in 1995 of plotting to blow up the United Nations, an FBI building, two tunnels and a bridge in New York.

Prosecutors complained that Stewarts initial sentence of 28 months in prison was too lenient. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan ordered U.S. District Judge John Koeltl to reconsider the term, questioning whether it was appropriate given the magnitude of the offense. Koeltl later resentenced Stewart to 10 years.

Herald Price Fahringer, Stewarts lawyer, told the appeals court today that the original term was appropriate. Stewart is being punished for statements she made after she was first sentenced which are protected by the U.S. Constitutions First Amendment, he said.

Upon leaving the courtroom after she was initially sentenced in 2006, Stewart told supporters outside the Manhattan Federal Courthouse that she could serve her 28-month sentence standing on my head. She also said in interviews with the media that she would do it again and not do anything differently.

Fahringer told the appeals court today that Koeltl punished Stewart for the comments to her supporters. Upholding Koeltls amended sentence would result in a chilling effect upon free speech uttered outside the courthouse for fear that the same thing could happen to them that happened to Lynne Stewart, Fahringer said.

Judge Robert Sack, one of the three judges on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals who have heard both challenges of the case, said he was concerned that Stewarts comments reflected a lack of remorse.

Fahringer countered that Stewarts statements were ambiguous.

And if it is ambiguous, under the First Amendment, you have to give the speaker the benefit of the doubt, he said.

Excerpt from:
Lawyer Stewart Claims Terror Sentence Punishes Free Speech

The Coalition says it would repeal laws used to prosecute Herald Sun columnist Andrew Bolt. Picture: Trevor Pinder Source: Herald Sun

UPDATE: THE Greens have hit out at the Coalition's plan to change free speech restrictions in racial discrimination law.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has revealed the plan to change the laws if he was made prime minister.

The plan would see sections of the Racial Discrimination Act that were used to prosecute Herald Sun columnist Andrew Bolt last year, after he wrote about light-skinned Aborigines, repealed by the Coalition.

Greens legal affairs spokeswoman Penny Wright said the Oppositions proposal to allow people to express views that could be offensive would lead to ''distortions of the truth''.

''If the Coalition have their way we will see a situation where an influential commentator may use errors of fact, distortions of the truth and inflammatory and provocative language to offend or insult people of a certain race, colour or ethnic origin, with impunity,'' Senator Wright said.

''Yes, there is an important balance to be struck between the right to freedom of expression and the right to be protected against discrimination. But we think that the Act in its current form gets that balance right.''

The Australian newspaper reports shadow Attorney-General George Brandis saying that the changes would mean the removal of provisions that prevent the use of words that could offend or insult.

"We consider that to be an inappropriate limitation on freedom of speech and freedom of public discussion as was evident in the Andrew Bolt case," he said.

"Offensive and insulting words are part of the robust democratic process, which is essential to a free country."

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Greens attack Coalition free speech plans

The Coalition says it would repeal laws used to prosecute Herald Sun columnist Andrew Bolt. Picture: Trevor Pinder Source: Herald Sun

THE Greens have hit out at the Coalition's plan to change free speech restrictions in racial discrimination law.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has revealed the plan to change the laws if he was made prime minister.

The plan would see sections of the Racial Discrimination Act that were used to prosecute Herald Sun columnist Andrew Bolt last year, after he wrote about light-skinned Aborigines, repealed by the Coalition.

Greens legal affairs spokeswoman Penny Wright said the Oppositions proposal to allow people to express views that could be offensive would lead to ''distortions of the truth''.

''If the Coalition have their way we will see a situation where an influential commentator may use errors of fact, distortions of the truth and inflammatory and provocative language to offend or insult people of a certain race, colour or ethnic origin, with impunity,'' Senator Wright said.

''Yes, there is an important balance to be struck between the right to freedom of expression and the right to be protected against discrimination. But we think that the Act in its current form gets that balance right.''

The Australian newspaper reports shadow Attorney-General George Brandis saying that the changes would mean the removal of provisions that prevent the use of words that could offend or insult.

"We consider that to be an inappropriate limitation on freedom of speech and freedom of public discussion as was evident in the Andrew Bolt case," he said.

"Offensive and insulting words are part of the robust democratic process, which is essential to a free country."

Continued here:
Coalition free speech plans attacked