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Want to know what is on our minds? Find blog posts written here, by the City Club staff, members, and partners. Every week you can find a new edition of #FreeSpeech in the News — a collection of related stories, commentary, and opinions on free speech in the 21st century that’s making the news. You’ll also find takes on current events, past forums, and issues surrounding Northeast Ohio. Read on for all things City Club.

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Monday, March 18, 2019

#FREESPEECH IN THE NEWS: MARCH 18, 2019

Bliss Davis, Content and Programming Coordinator, The City Club of Cleveland

#FREESPEECH IN THE NEWS: MARCH 18, 2019

As the Citadel of Free Speech here in Cleveland, we work to protect and promote the basis of our democracy by sharing related stories, commentary, and opinions on free speech in the 21st century. Here's what's making the news – and what you should know about – in the past week.


1.) Middle finger protected by the constitution, court rules

A federal appeals court says a driver who showed a police officer her middle finger is protected by the First Amendment.

It all started in 2017 when the Michigan woman was pulled over for speeding, but the officer gave her a break, writing it up as a lesser violation. But as the woman drove away, she flipped the officer off. The officer pulled her over again, this time citing her for speeding.

She sued and a U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in her favor, saying the woman didn't break any law by exercising her free-speech rights.

2.) Abortion protesters sue Huntsville over free speech rights

Personhood Alabama has announced that pro-life sidewalk advocates James and Carol Henderson have filed suit against the City of Huntsville alleging a violation of their constitutional right to free speech.

For years, Reverend and Mrs. Henderson have legally advocated for life on the public sidewalk outside of the abortion clinic in Huntsville with a permit obtained from the City of Huntsville.

According to the plaintiffs, in 2017, the city unexpectedly added what they feel was oddly restrictive language to the permit, to the effect that “[t]he amplified sound produced by a participant in the event shall not be plainly audible inside adjacent or nearby buildings.” The Hendersons contend that this new permit requirement is grossly unconstitutional and has put pro-life advocates through unnecessary apprehension regarding potential legal backlash from the city.

3.) Duke Law students ask Supreme Court to hear case of free speech activists

In 2015, free speech activists at the University of South Carolina used images of a swastika displayed on another campus and a sign including a derogatory term usually aimed at undocumented Mexican immigrants, at a demonstration on campus to represent speech that had been quieted on other college campuses.

The school's actions in the wake of the protest have sparked a legal fight. Now, Duke's First Amendment Clinic is weighing in on the fight, filing a "friend of the court" brief to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case.

The situation began when student activists, including from the campus chapter of Young Americans for Liberty, held an event for free speech in which they displayed images that included a swastika and signs that included the phrase "wetback" on the campus of the University of South Carolina. The students' signs were based on speech that had been banned from other campuses.

An administrator sent a student organizer, Ross Abbott, a letter saying that other students had submitted discrimination complaints a day after the event, The State newspaper reported. The letter gave Abbott "five days to respond and directed him not to discuss the issue on campus or contact the students who had complained," according to The State. The State newspaper reported that the lawsuit claimed that this letter "was effectively a gag order."

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