Monday, June 25, 2007

What can I say?

Sometimes a D.C. Superior Court judge gets it right -- finding that lost pants are not worth $54 million; sometimes the Supreme Court gets it completely wrong -- holding that schools can suppress off-campus expressions of free speech if it looks like a pro-drug message.

And sometimes, an editorial cartoon in the Dayton Daily News sums up the absurdity that is our legal system perfectly:





5 comments:

The Goo said...

I still don't get the "free speech... except sometimes" ruling. It seems like complete b.s. with no real legal precedent.

dara said...

Pandering to the religious conservatives perhaps?

Anonymous said...

From Bo:

Dara, I think I disagree with you this time. I actually think the religious conservatives are concerned in this situation, because a ruling like this could affect religious speech in schools (such as abstinece T-shirts or other Christian stuff said or worn at school). You see some of the lawsuits Christians have filed. In this case, it was my understanding that conservative groups were concerned as well.

I believe in free speech to the death, including religious speech and hate speech (some times sadly one in the same). I also support this guy's silly sign. Unfortunately, my view as a conservative is that I see the liberals as doing everything they can to suppress certain types of speech - look no further than our college campuses.

Anyway, thought I would try and bring a civil yet different point of view to this post. :)

Hope to see you at the picnic.

dara said...

Bo: I apologize for my generalization. It was lazy, and I was tired.

When I wrote about this case the first time, I was more clear. There is a weird consensus in this case. The administration, which is in large part supported by religious conservatives, took a stance -- and admittedly, I'm paraphrasing -- that all speech in or near or related to schools needs to be closely controlled, especially when it seems to be about drugs or sex or anything that is societally taboo. You know, the ones that think that schools ought to behave as big brother, shielding kids from the evils of the world, yadda yadda yadda, rather than letting them learn and grow and express themselves as adults.

Real liberals -- not those who pander to interest groups -- and, for that matter, real "laissez-faire" conservatives seem to disagree, in the interest of protecting the right to free speech. And yeah, some religious conservatives -- you included -- fall into the latter category. (But you generally do.)

Anonymous said...

From Bo:

Sounds good. We head for vacation tomorrow - so have a good next week and a half. Happy 4th!