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Editorials

  • GUEST OPINION: Loyal employee lawsuit against schools in court

    By DAVID L. HUDSON JR.
    First Amendment Center
    A former employee with a Nevada school district will have her day in court after a federal district judge ruled she had a clearly established right to attend a public meeting and sit next to her former boss.

    Kathleen Nichols was an employee with the Washoe County School District, where she worked as an administrative assistant to the district’s general counsel, Jeffrey Blanck.

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  • GUEST OPINION: Knoxville and Memphis: When officials overreach

    By KEN PAULSON
    First Amendment Center
    Memphis and Knoxville are about 390 miles apart, but they’re in strikingly similar territory as city officials in both try to poach the names of local citizens from newspapers.

    In Memphis, attorneys for the Shelby County Commission are trying to force the Memphis Commercial Appeal to reveal the identities of anyone who posted comments on the newspaper’s website over a 21-month span concerning the merger of city and county schools and plans by suburban communities to start school districts.

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  • GUEST OPINION: Cities should keep hands off Chick-fil-A

    By GENE POLINSKI
    First Amendment Center
    You and I are free to agree or disagree openly with the president of the Chick-fil-A fast-food chain over his public statements against gay marriage. The First Amendment protects his and our right to express our views.

    But when government officials take sides, they walk a much finer line between protected expression of personal views and the implication — if not open threat — of government punishment for free speech.

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  • 1st Amendment violation not needed for justice

    By KEN PAULSON
    First Amendment Center
    In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Alvarez come two news items that remind us that lies about military service are best addressed with existing laws and information, not new and overbroad legislation.
    Last month, the Supreme Court in a 6-to-3 vote struck down the Stolen Valor Act, which had made it a crime to falsely claim military honors. The Court found that the act violated the First Amendment, criminalizing deceitful speech without a showing of fraud or other criminal activity.

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  • GUEST OPINION: McCain stands up for Muslims — and America

    By Charles C. HAYNES
    First Amendment Center
    Last week, U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., took to the Senate floor to defend Huma Abedin – a Muslim American who serves as an aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

    Although a small blip in the news cycle, McCain’s speech may ultimately prove to be a turning point in the struggle to combat Islamophobia in the United States.

    Witch-hunts, history teaches, cease only when witch-hunters go too far — and some courageous soul dares to cry “enough.”

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  • GUEST OPINION: Quote approval in news is shoddy journalism

    “One gets an image of reporters as
    trained pets, willing to sit up on command in hopes of being tossed a morsel of ‘news’ — morsels that in the end are much like today’s dog food: processed. shaped, and as bland as possible so as to be acceptable as widely as possible.”

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  • GUEST OPINION: Most Americans protective of 1st Amendment

    By GENE POLICINSKI
    First Amendment Center
    Americans once again don’t run up big positive numbers in an annual First Amendment Center survey when it comes to being able to name all five freedoms in the opening 45 words of the Bill of Rights.

    But once reminded of “religion, speech, press, assembly and petition,” they do have some strong opinions about how those freedoms ought to work.

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  • GUEST OPINION: Religious freedom favors none, protects all

    By CHARLES C. HAYNES
    First Amendment Center
    Louisiana State Rep. Valarie Hodges used to be a big fan of school vouchers. “I liked the idea,” she explained, “of giving parents the option of sending their children to a public school or a Christian school.”

    Then last month Hodges got a First Amendment reality check when she discovered that Christian schools wouldn’t be the only religious schools getting tax dollars.

    “Unfortunately, it [vouchers] will not be limited to the Founders’ religion,” she said.

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  • GUEST OPINION: A victory for free speech from court

    A late June Supreme Court decision in United States v. Alvarez is a victory for free speech and common sense.

    The Supreme Court in a 6-to-3 vote struck down the Stolen Valor Act, which made it a crime to falsely claim military honors. The Court concluded that the act violated the First Amendment by criminalizing lies without a showing of fraud or other criminal conduct.

    Click here to read more...
  • GUEST OPINION: Arizona ruling not very well thought out

    By KEN PAULSON
    First Amendment Center
    A new state law in Arizona threatens to withhold 10 percent of funding from public schools and libraries if they don’t block “harmful” content on the Internet.

    The law, which goes into effect Aug. 1, requires that minors be blocked from accessing “visual depictions that are child pornography, harmful to minors or obscene.”

    According to The Arizona Republic, Rep. Steve Court, who sponsored the bill, says it’s intended to refine existing law.

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Copyright © 2013

The Roane County News is your source for local news, sports, events, and information in Roane County and Kingston, Tennessee, and the surrounding area.