MTA changes their advertising rules, the Dersh calls new rules unconstitutional
Just one day after Mona Eltahaway was
arrested in New York for vandalizing Pamela Geller's subway advertisements (see above), New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority
changed its rules regarding ads like the ones in question.
The New York Times reports the MTA will prohibit any
advertisements that it “reasonably foresees would imminently incite or
provoke violence or other immediate breach of the peace.” Those
“viewpoint” ads that do not meet this criteria will be allowed, so long
as a disclaimer is included saying the MTA does not endorse them. The
MTA met on Thursday to discuss the rules, which were approved
unanimously 8-0.
Self-proclaimed “proud-liberal Muslim” activist Mona Eltahawy served
as the impetus of the ruling after she spray painted a pro-Israel
advertisement placed in the New York City subway.
Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz says that the new rules are plain dumb and
unconstitutional.
“A. it’s clearly unconstitutional” he said, and “b. it incentivizes
people to engage in violence. What it says to people, is that if they
don’t like ads, just engage in violence and then we’ll take the ads
down.”
“It’s very bad policy,” he continued, “and it’s just plain dumb, because it is going to encourage violence.”
Responding to the charge in an interview with The Algemeiner, M.T.A. spokesperson Aaron Donovan declined to comment.
...
The Law Professor also made clear that he is certain the decision
will face legal challenges. “It will be challenged, there is no question
about that,” he confirmed, “if the ACLU (American Civil Liberties
Union) doesn’t get into this case immediately, they are going to have to
write to me several times for my contribution this year. This is a
perfect case for the ACLU, the ACLU should be in there, opposed to the
MTA.”
“I would hope the ACLU would get behind the organization that put up
the ads even though I’m sure they disagree with the content of the ads,
as do I,” he concluded.
When asked by The Algemeiner if they had considered the
constitutionality of their decision, M.T.A. spokesperson Aaron Donovan
said that he wasn’t concerned. “All of the changes that were made to the
guidelines, were made within the framework of our understanding of
First Amendment law, we feel the guidelines as they have been amended
are firmly planted in the bedrock of the constitution, specifically the
First Amendment,” he said.
I wonder whether the ACLU will get behind Pam and her group. Hmmm.
Labels: ACLU, Alan Dershowitz, bus advertisements, freedom of speech, jihad, Mona Eltahaway, New York City, Pamela Geller
'Freedom of speech,' American style?
In an instance of 'freedom of speech for me but not for thee,' the American Civil Liberties Union has been supporting
silencing supporters of Israel on college campuses.
Michael Oren—a distinguished scholar and writer, a moderate supporter of the two-state solution, and now Israel's Ambassador to the United States—was invited to speak. The Muslim Student Union set out to prevent him from delivering his talk Here is the way Erwin Chemerinksy, Dean of the law school, described what the students did:
"The Muslim Student Union orchestrated a concerted effort to disrupt the speech. One student after another stood and shouted so that the ambassador could not be heard. Each student was taken away only to be replaced by another doing the same thing."
Chemerinsky understates what happened, as anyone can see by watching a video of the event, available online (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfLs_ptJzQA). This was more than a "concerted effort to disrupt the speech." It was a concerted effort to stop it completely—to censor Oren's right to speak and his audience's right to hear him. The efforts to disrupt succeeded; the effort to stop ultimately failed. Moreover, Chemerinsky fails to mention what happened both before and after the concerted effort. There is undisputed evidence that there was a well-planned conspiracy to censor Oren's talk, and then to lie about it, which the students did after the event.
The students were disciplined by the university for their actions, though the nature and degree of the discipline has been kept confidential. Campus sources have characterized it as a "slap on the wrist." Since the students were arrested, the District Attorney, quite understandably, commenced a criminal investigation. After learning of the careful planning that went into the concerted effort to prevent Oren from speaking and the subsequent cover-up, the DA filed misdemeanor charges against those who were involved.
This decision resulted in an outcry by radicals, many of whom favor censorship of pro-Israel speakers. In a letter to the DA signed by many well-known anti-Israel zealots, the incident was described as merely a protest: "The students nonviolently and verbally protested…"
Then, in an effort to blame the victims, the letter pointed the finger at pro-Israel students who wanted to listen to Oren speak claiming—quite falsely—that the Muslim Student Union censors "conducted themselves in less of a disruptive manner than some of the counter-protestors…" This is simply a lie, as anyone can see by viewing the video. Moreover, the intent of the so-called "counter-protestors" was simply to hear the speaker, whereas the intent of the Muslim Student Union was to censor the speaker.
The fact that radical anti-Israel zealots would support censorship of a pro-Israel speaker comes as no surprise. But the fact that the letter of support was signed by two ACLU leaders should shock all civil libertarians and supporters of the ACLU. I have been a supporter of the ACLU for half a century and was a national board member. I supported the right of Nazis to march through Skokie and I defend the right of the most virulent anti-Israel speakers to participate in the marketplace of ideas. The ACLU policy has always been to oppose concerted efforts to prevent speakers from delivering their remarks. While supporting sporadic heckling and jeering that merely demonstrates opposition to the content of the remarks, the ACLU has always condemned concerted efforts to silence invited speakers.
Yet signatories of the letter—which never once criticizes the censoring Muslim Union students while condemning those who wanted to hear the speaker—include "Chuck Anderson," who identifies himself as President ACLU Chapter, Orange County and Chair, The Peace and Freedom Party, Orange County;" (a hard left anti-Israel group), and "Hector Villagro," who identifies himself as "Incoming Executive Director, ACLU of Southern California."
Read the whole thing. George Orwell described it perfectly. Some animals are more equal than others.
Labels: ACLU, Michael Oren, Muslim Student Union, University of California at Irvine
ACLU suing over Seattle bus ads
Remember the
Seattle bus ads that
weren't? Well, the ACLU is
going to court over them.
The American Civil Liberties Union is taking King County to court over its refusal to post controversial bus ads criticizing the Israeli government.
KING 5 News first broke the story that the ads reading, "Israeli war crimes, your tax dollars at work," were set to appear on 12 Metro buses. That set the stage for a showdown where the county ultimately backed down.
This wouldn't be Metro's first time running controversial ads. You might remember the one that ran last Christmas, "Yes Virginia, there is no God." The ad for the "Bodies" exhibit at Pacific Science Center was controversial, even "Save Gaza," in 2009. None of those ads elicited much of a response. This one did.
If the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign's goal was to raise awareness about its cause, it succeeded. Just about everyone knows about the ad and its now infamous slogan. Not because they saw it on the side of a bus, but because they didn't.
"We still don't know who informed the press," says Ed Mast with the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign. Word got out, before the signs came out. "The local media exposure, of course, quickly created a media controversy about the ads."
King County, citing security concerns, opted not to run the ads. That, says the ACLU, violates the First Amendment right to free speech.
"If every time we have a concern that some speech is going to cause some kind of problem, we might as well all just shut up right now," says ACLU of Washington's Executive Director, Kathleen Taylor.
Several bus drivers have told us they feared they could be targeted in the backlash. Many in the Jewish community were appalled, some even proposed their own counter ad, "Palestinian war crimes, your tax dollars at work."
Read the whole thing.
Free speech, yadda, yadda, yadda. So here's my question folks: If these were ads by Pam Geller and Robert Spencer's group seeking to help people to
leave Islam safely, and they were banned, does anyone think that the ACLU would care? My recollection is that Pam's and Robert's ads were almost banned in Florida and that the ACLU didn't say a word.
Labels: ACLU, bus advertisements, Islamic apostacy, Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer, Seattle
