FIRE

Support FIRE today: https://www.theFIRE.org/donate This week, video went viral of an administrator explaining to the student and his parent why the student was kicked out of class for displaying the iconic “Dont Tread on Me” Gadsden flag patch on his backpack The administrator, who works at a public charter school in Colorado, incorrectly says that the Gadsden flag has its origins in slavery and the slave trade. It didn’t. It was a rallying cry for colonial resistance against British tyranny during the Revolutionary War. Importantly, as FIRE’s Aaron Terr explains, under the First Amendment, the actual or perceived viewpoint of the patch cannot in and of itself be a reason for banning it. Schools do have the authority to limit student speech that causes a substantial disruption of a learning environment or where there is a concrete threat of a substantial disruption. Nothing like that happened here. The parent says that one teacher didn't like the patch and reported it to the administration. but that's just not enough to justify restricting a student's First Amendment rights.

When Jocelyn Chia told a joke about Malaysia Airlines in NYC's Comedy Cellar in June, social media did its thing. Instead of apologizing, Jocelyn and fellow comedian Chrissie Mayr lampooned the social media response. FIRE's Ella Ross sat down with Jocelyn and Chrissie in NYC to discuss the joke, cancel culture, the power of comedy, and why comedians are the last hope for free speech. Support FIRE today: https://www.theFIRE.org/donate Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 07:12 - Consumers of Comedy 10:52 - Dealing with Cancellation 17:29 - Canceling & Hypocrisy 20:22 - Truth & Humor 26:05 - Offense & Comedy 29:22 - Silencing the Mob

Over the weekend, a drama unfolded at a California library, but this story wasn’t in a book. An event focused on women and girls in sports was abruptly halted and declared “over” less than 15 minutes into the program because of alleged misgendering by the event’s speakers. In shutting down the event — which took place in a publicly available meeting room reserved by the event organizers — a library employee claimed a speaker violated California law and the library’s policies when she used “men,” “male,” and “biological male” to refer to transgender women participating in girls’ and women’s sports. That law, by the way, doesn’t exist — and if it did, it would be unconstitutional. The only violation of the law was the library manager's infringement of the speakers’ free speech rights. The library manager’s conduct is disturbing to see at a public institution that should be committed to hosting a range of ideas and perspectives and making its resources available to everyone, regardless of their viewpoints or beliefs. The Yolo County Library must commit to meeting its First Amendment obligations going forward.

Read more: https://www.thefire.org/news/maine-hospital-threatens-defamation-lawsuit-over-15-year-olds-changeorg-petition Samson Cournane — a fifteen-year-old college student — wrote a petition to his congressman and an op-ed in his university's student newspaper calling attention to patient-safety concerns at his local hospital, where his mother worked as a pediatric intensive care doctor. The hospital’s parent corporation, Northern Light Health, responded by threatening to sue Samson’s mother for defamation based on Samson's advocacy. FIRE is demanding the conglomerate retract its lawsuit threat and respect Samson’s right to speak freely and petition government officials.

Evidence continues to pile up that the #biden #whitehouse put pressure on #facebook to #censor protected #speech! 😱📱⚖️ #lawyersoftiktok #facebookfiles #freespeech #lawtokfire

Learn more: https://www.thefire.org/news/lawsuit-fire-sues-stop-california-forcing-professors-teach-dei DEI stands for “diversity, equity, and inclusion" — all of which sounds fine, right? But materials put out by the state of California show that in this case, DEI translates to highly contested and controversial views. The state’s definitions say that the idea of “color blindness” "perpetuates... racial inequities," and even the idea of "merit," is "embedded in the ideology of Whiteness" and "upholds race-based structural inequality.” FIRE has filed a lawsuit on behalf of six California community college professors to halt new, systemwide regulations forcing professors to espouse and teach these politicized conceptions of “diversity, equity, and inclusion.” The regulations are now in effect in the State Center Community College District, and FIRE’s clients have already been forced to change their syllabi and teaching materials, lest they face repercussions.

Support FIRE today: https://www.theFIRE.org/donate The United Nations Human Rights Council just approved a new resolution about anti-religious expression. It's bad news for free speech. #freespeech #unitednations #unitednationshumanrights

We might not have all the answers, but having conversations with diverse viewpoints can help us get closer to the truth. Check out this insightful discussion on the importance of free speech with Michael Shermer and FIRE's Angel Eduardo at #FFest23. 🗣️✨

We might not have all the answers, but having conversations with diverse viewpoints can help us get closer to the truth. Check out this insightful discussion on the importance of free speech with Michael Shermer and FIRE's Angel Eduardo at #FFest23. 🗣️✨ (Part 1 of 2)

Watch the full interview! https://youtu.be/qhjM-7s-jLY

Support FIRE today: https://www.thefire.org/donate Nikole Hannah-Jones, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and lead author of the 1619 Project, was denied tenure at her alma mater, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, due to her political beliefs. This sets a terrible precedent for free expression, viewpoint diversity, and academic freedom on campus. FIRE sat down with Jones to discuss her story, and the importance of free speech and academic freedom.

"Everybody now is watching what they say all the time." - Ice Cube #shorts #icecube #freespeech #piersmorgan #uncensored

"Say what needs to be said at the time it needs to be said." #shorts #icecube #freespeech #piersmorgan #uncensored

Support FIRE today: https://www.theFIRE.org/donate FIRE’s Senior Writer & Editor Angel Eduardo sits down with author, public intellectual, and noted skeptic Michael Shermer to discuss free expression, free inquiry, conspiracies, RFK Jr., Joe Rogan, skepticism, and what he thinks the biggest threat to free speech is today. Dr. Michael Shermer is the Founding Publisher of Skeptic magazine, the host of the podcast The Michael Shermer Show, and a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University where he teaches Skepticism 101. For 18 years he was a monthly columnist for Scientific American. He writes a weekly Substack column. He is the author of New York Times bestsellers Why People Believe Weird Things and The Believing Brain, Why Darwin Matters, The Science of Good and Evil, The Moral Arc, Heavens on Earth, Giving the Devil His Due: Reflections of a Scientific Humanist and Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational. https://www.skeptic.com/magazine/ https://www.skeptic.com/michael-shermer-show/ https://michaelshermer.substack.com/ https://michaelshermer.com/sciam-columns/

Read more: https://www.thefire.org/news/lawsuit-high-school-student-sues-after-receiving-suspension-posting-campus-cat-meme Today, a 17-year-old rising senior represented by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression sued his Tennessee public high school after the principal suspended him for posting memes lampooning the principal for being overly serious. “The First Amendment bars public school employees from acting as a 24/7 board of censors,” said FIRE attorney Conor Fitzpatrick. “As long as a student’s posts do not substantially disrupt school, what teens post on social media on their own time is between them and their parents, not the government.” FIRE’s lawsuit names Tullahoma City Schools, Principal Jason Quick, and Assistant Principal Derrick Crutchfield as defendants and seeks to remove the suspension from the student’s record and halt enforcement of the school’s vague policies. “Administrators cannot wield vague social media policies to punish nondisruptive, off-campus satire,” said FIRE attorney Harrison Rosenthal. “Principal Quick suspended a student over playful memes — but he can’t suspend the First Amendment.” The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to defending and sustaining the individual rights of all Americans to free speech and free thought — the most essential qualities of liberty. FIRE educates Americans about the importance of these inalienable rights, promotes a culture of respect for these rights, and provides the means to preserve them. FIRE is assisted in this case by local counsel Darrick O’Dell of Spicer Rudstrom PLLC.

You can't put the genie back in the bottle, but we can put an additional billion eyes on problems today, and we can use this for a powerful force for good. To see Stand Together's full video, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQPMvRyUb1Q

Support FIRE today: https://www.theFIRE.org/donate VICTORY: Uvalde School District backs down after FIRE threatened to sue for the rights of a concerned parent who Uvalde banned from school district property after he spoke out at school board meetings about student safety after the horrific shooting. Adam Martinez, a father of a child present during the Uvalde school shooting, had questions about a new officer the school district had just hired. During a school board meeting, he asked the police chief questions. Minutes later, he was removed and banned from all school property. The parents in Uvalde, Texas have a First Amendment right to criticize their school district's police department. After FIRE threatened a lawsuit, Adam can go back onto school district property, attend school board meetings, and make sure that his voice can be heard just like any other parent.

An accomplished blues musician, Daryl Davis has dedicated decades of his life to a mission that defies conventional wisdom. Through the transformative power of conversation, Davis fearlessly takes on the challenging task of convincing members of the Ku Klux Klan and other extremist groups to renounce their deep-seated bigotry.

This video, produced by Stand Together, features FIRE President Greg Lukianoff speaking about the rise in recent years in attempts to fire university professors, equating words to violence, and students medicalizing how they speak about people's views with whom they disagree. To see Stand Together's full video, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQPMvRyUb1Q

FIRE threatened to sue for the rights of a concerned parent who Uvalde banned from school property after he spoke out at school board meetings about student safety after the horrific shooting.

Vanity plates are free speech #freespeech #car #vanityplate

Douglass referred to the Constitution as a "glorious liberty document." These words are from his “What, to the slave, is the fourth of July” speech. (1852)

In this clip produced by Stand Together, FIRE President Greg Lukianoff speaks about the rise in recent years in attempts to fire university professors, equating words to violence, and students medicalizing how they speak about people's views that they disagree with. To see the full video, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQPMvRyUb1Q

In a #victory for #freespeech #scotus rules 6-3 that artists cannot "be conscripted to disseminate the government's preferred messages." ⚖️🔥 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis (06/30/2023) #firstamendmentauditor #lgbtq #expression #lawyersofyoutube #lawyer

Joe Rogan welcomed our friend Killer Mike to The Joe Rogan Experience this week, where they chatted about why we can’t use the government as a tool to shut up those we disagree with. #joerogan #podcast #highlight #speech #expression