free speech

The latest nonsense threatening citizens' freedom of speech:

Now, a political fight over what voters can wear to the polls is headed to court in Pennsylvania — with the Republican Party favoring a dress code and Democrats opposed.

[...]

The political showdown was triggered by a Pennsylvania Department of State memo advising counties last month that voters' attire doesn't matter as long as the "voter takes no additional action to attempt to influence other voters."

Because the memo is not legally binding, some counties have kept past restrictions on clothing and political buttons.

But two Pittsburgh-area elections officials sued to have the memo rescinded. Their lawsuit warned that if the memo stands, "nothing would prevent a partisan group from synchronizing a battalion of like-minded individuals ... to descend on a polling place, presenting a domineering, united front, certain to dissuade the average citizen who may privately hold different beliefs."

"...A domineering, united front." Right. I thought the introduction of the secret ballot in most states at the end of the 19th Century took care of all this?

Just another Republican scare tactic.

The Supreme Court handed down a decision this week against x-high schooler Joseph Frederick who created the banner “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” during a parade in support of the Winter Olympics.

“It remains to be seen what far-reaching effects the decision will have on students' free-speech rights. There's still a great deal of confusion regarding the issue since there are really no hard-and-fast rules concerning what forms of speech are acceptable when you're a student — and which ones could land you in front of a judge.”

When students ask Witold "Vic" Walczak — the legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania — for a general rule of thumb when it comes to students' First Amendment rights, "What I usually tell them is, if it involves political or religious speech, you've got fairly extensive rights. Beyond that, not so much. Truth be told, students did not have significant expressive rights before now, except when it dealt with religious and political [matters]." MTV

Me: Damn… were did those free speech rights go?
Answer: Did you check between the cushions of the supreme court?

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