Saturday, 2 November 2019

Connecticut: Where Ridicule is a Crime

Connecticut: Where Ridicule is a Crime

by Alan M. Dershowitz  •  November 2, 2019 at 5:00 am
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  • Among the most fundamental First Amendment rights is to ridicule — regardless of the reason. The same is true of holding people or groups up to contempt. Were Connecticut's absurd statute to be upheld — which it will not be — it could be applied to comedians, op-ed writers, politicians, professors and other students.
  • And what about "creed"? Is being a conservative or a Trump supporter a creed that cannot be ridiculed?... [T]herein lies its greatest danger: selective prosecution based on current political correctness. Precisely the kind of unpopular speech which the First Amendment was designed to protect...
  • Such hateful expressions [Anti-Semitic, anti-Christian and anti-conservative] are not only tolerated, they are often praised as "progressive" by some of the same students and faculty members who would censor politically incorrect hate speech. Under the First Amendment, such selective censorship is intolerable.
  • All who care about civil liberties, regardless of race, should now join with the racist students in opposing their criminal prosecution and demanding that the Connecticut statute be struck down as unconstitutional.
  • The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the president of the university should lead the campaign against criminalizing speech that ridicules. Now that would take courage in our age of political correctness and at a time when the hard left is demanding "free speech for me but not for thee." But this is not an age in which courage is widely practiced, especially on university campuses, and most especially by administrators.
Among the most fundamental First Amendment rights is to ridicule — regardless of the reason. The same is true of holding people or groups up to contempt. Were Connecticut's absurd statute to be upheld — which it will not be — it could be applied to comedians, op-ed writers, politicians, professors and other students. (Image source: iStock)
Two students at the University of Connecticut have been charged with the crime of ridiculing African Americans by shouting the N-word as part of a childishly inappropriate game. A video of the incident went viral and generated protests on and off the campus.
Outrageous as shouting this racist epithet is, the First Amendment protects it from criminal prosecution or other governmental sanctions. The Connecticut General Statute under which the students were charged is just about as unconstitutional as any statute can be. It is not even a close case. Here is what the statute criminalizes:
Section 53-37 - Ridicule on account of creed, religion, color, denomination, nationality or race.

After Baghdadi, Iran Should Be Trump's Next Priority

by Con Coughlin  •  November 1, 2019 at 5:00 am
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  • President Donald Trump's constant refrain about withdrawing US forces from the Middle East is... an enormous source of concern for Gulf leaders, who historically have relied heavily on the US to protect their interests. It is a measure of their disquiet that Russian President Vladimir Putin received a warm reception during his recent visits to Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, as Arab governments sought to weigh up their options in the event that they can no longer rely on Washington to safeguard their security requirements.
  • Allowing Mr Putin a foothold in Syria is one thing; enabling the Kremlin open access to the oil-rich Gulf states is quite another, and is not a prospect that Mr Trump should entertain.
  • From Washington's perspective, the Gulf states are vital allies in the Trump administration's confrontation with Tehran. So, rather than constantly sending signals that he is no longer interested in supported America's allies in the Middle East, the president should seek to reassure them that, while the nature of America's military dispositions in the region may be changing, Washington's support for its allies remains as strong as ever.
  • Mr Trump might do well to understand that having the Gulf states on his side is vital if he is to succeed in his campaign to force Tehran to renegotiate the flawed nuclear deal. Preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons is, after all, just as important for the Trump administration as destroying the terrorist masterminds that run ISIS.
From Washington's perspective, the Gulf states are vital allies in the Trump administration's confrontation with Tehran. President Trump should seek to reassure them that, while the nature of America's military dispositions in the region may be changing, Washington's support for its allies remains as strong as ever. Pictured: President Donald Trump hosts Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House on March 14, 2017. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
After all the recent speculation that US President Donald Trump is seeking to end America's long-standing involvement in the Middle East, the violent demise of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has demonstrated that the White House remains resolute in pursuing its enemies.
As Mr Trump said in the immediate aftermath of Baghdadi's death in northwestern Syria at the weekend, killing or capturing the ISIS terrorist, the man responsible for overseeing the barbaric reign of cruelty that manifested itself under his so-called caliphate, had been his administration's number one priority.
It was to this end that Mr Trump personally authorised US special forces to undertake their daring mission against Baghdadi's hideout in Idlib province, close to the Turkish border, even though, in public, Mr Trump was insistent that he was intent on reducing America's involvement in what he has described as the "bloodstained sand" of the Middle East.

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