Tag Archives: freedom of speech

A British preacher has been arrested and charged with causing “harassment, alarm, or distress” after he was overheard reciting a list of sins that included homosexuality. Dale McAlpine was taken into custody after a gay police liaison officer overheard him and summoned regular cops. The 42-year-old Baptist, who has preached Christianity in Wokington, Cumbria for years, said he did not …

Arguably the world’s most famed gay activist, the UK’s Peter Tatchell has come out against the recent hate speech fine imposed on an American preacher in Scotland, saying that only speech that incites to violence should be illegal. New York resident Shawn Holes was arrested in Glascow two weeks ago after telling customers at a shopping mall that gay people …

The father of the dead Marine whose funeral was picketed by the Westboro Baptist Church has been ordered to pay Fred Phelps’ court costs for defending the church from the father’s lawsuit. On Friday, Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ordered Snyder to pay $16,510 to Fred Phelps. Phelps is the leader of the Westboro Baptist Church, which conducted …

Westboro Baptist Church’s freedom of speech case is coming up in the Supreme Court. Tonight the pundits on Hardball discussed whether Westboro “should be shut down.”

A California court has ruled that a 15 year-old boy whose personal website was flooded with anti-gay threats can sue the classmates who made them. In a 2-1 ruling Monday, the Second District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles said the violent language of the message – threatening to “rip out your … heart and feed it to you” and …

Saskatchewan’s top court has overturned a ruling against a man who was distributing anti-gay pamphlets, saying there is a difference between hate speech against homosexual acts and condemning gay people themselves. Bill Whatcott will not have to pay the $17,500 in compensation a provincial tribunal awarded in 2005 to four people who complained his flyers exposed them to hatred, the …

The UK’s House Of Lords has upheld an entry ban on homophobic radio shock jock Michael Savage. A ban on a US radio presenter entering the UK will be upheld, the government has said. Michael Savage, known for his strong views on homosexuality, Islam and abortion, was barred from entering the country in May last year. The shock jock, whose …

On Friday a new law went into effect in Ireland making it a crime if anyone “publishes or utters matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion.” A blasphemy conviction can result in a fine of up to €25,000. …

Wing Nut Daily is reporting that more than 80 pastors took part in “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” yesterday, a campaign launched by the anti-gay Alliance Defense Fund to “preach Sunday sermons related to biblical perspectives on the positions of electoral candidates or current government officials.” That is in violation of IRS rules regarding tax-exempt churches and political speech. “Pastors have a …

According to WorldNetDaily, well-known anti-gay nutball Pastor Billy Ball and a supporter (pictured) were arrested several times on the same day last week for holding anti-gay signs on a Manchester, Georgia street corner. Chris Pettigrew and Pastor Billy Ball of Faith Baptist Church in Primrose, Ga., were arrested multiple times Aug 24 after they held signs on a public street …

2 Live Crew, Me So Horny, 1989. Using the music of Mass Production’s 1979 hit Firecracker and a vocal sample from Full Metal Jacket, this track took the Miami-based rappers to the top of the charts, to jail, and eventually, to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that freedom of speech protected the group from charges of obscenity. The album …

Well, this is interesting. The ACLU says that the Senate version of the hate crimes act does not protect free speech as vigorously as the House version and wants the Senate to adopt the other chamber’s bill. In its July 17 statement, the ACLU says the Senate hate crimes measure, set to be an amendment to the fiscal year 2010 …

In what British tabloids are describing with headlines like “Gay Hate Jokes Get Banned”, the attempt to decriminalize anti-gay speech in the UK has failed. The government has defeated an amendment in the House of Commons that would have created a defence of “free speech” in a bill that is designed to criminalise incitement of hatred in relation to sexual …

In 2008 it became a crime in England and Wales to incite hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation. Under the law, the hateful action must be threatening, not merely insulting or abusive. Now the House of Lords is considering widening that law to cover less than physically threatening speech. Rowan Atkinson, the man most of us know as Mr. …

A columnist in Canada’s gay magazine Xtra has come out in support of a move by MP Keith Martin to remove the provision against hate speech from the Canada Human Rights Act. Brenda Cossman: [T]he best way to get your opinions about offensive speech into the paper is to bring a human rights complaint trying to censor the offensive speech. …

Back in May, the University of Toledo’s head of human resources, Crystal Dixon, was fired from her job after she penned an anti-gay column in the Toledo Free Press which read in part: As a Black woman who happens to be an alumnus of the University of Toledo’s Graduate School, an employee and business owner, I take great umbrage at …

Independent candidate for the Canadian parliament David Popescu told a high school debate audience yesterday that he recommended that gays be executed. Canadian authorities are investigating and may charge Popescu with a hate crime. David Popescu was invited to participate in a federal candidates’ discussion at Sudbury Secondary School on Tuesday. He made the comment after a student asked his …

Australian gays and progressives are annoyed by a new law against “annoying” the attendees of next week’s World Youth Day with Ill Papa. Wearing T-shirts that read “Pope Go Homo” and “The pope is wrong, put a condom on!,” a dozen demonstrators poked fun Wednesday at a new Australian law meant to protect participants of next week’s World Youth Day …

The Americans United for Separation of Church and State have filed a federal lawsuit to stop South Carolina from issuing the “I Believe” license plate mentioned here last week. Americans United for Separation of Church and State today filed a lawsuit in federal district court on behalf of several religious leaders and a religious organization whose First Amendment rights are …

Today the New York Times continues its American Exception series of articles on ways that the American justice system is unique in the world. And with excellent timing (considering Tuesday’s heated conversation on the issue here on JMG), today they discuss freedom of speech in an article titled Freedom To Offend. A couple of years ago, a Canadian magazine published …