Earlier this week, two men were executed by hanging in Iran for their actions during the post-election unrest in 2009. What did they do during this period of post-election unrest, you ask? According the the state-run news agency in Iran, they were sentenced to death "for distributing placards and photos of the terrorist group, making videos and images during the post-election unrest in Iran in 2009 and chanting slogans in favor of the MKO."
Yet, Hillary Clinton apparently didn't see the terrorist connections with making videos and images of the unrest in Iran. She urged Iran to halt the executions as the men were "exercising their right to free expression" back in August of 2010.
Iran paid no attention to the request and gave two of their own citizens the ultimate penalty for expressing themselves politically, something that we Americans cannot even fathom. Of course the state-run news agency attempted to link these two men making videos of the civil unrest to a terrorist organization. Yet, with no independent and free news agencies inside the country, the state can fill the airwaves with whatever falsities without any objections or independent verification.
These terrible destructions of a right we find so fundamental to our every day lives is almost incomprehensible. The blessings that we share, to be able to freely speak for or against our government and to have a free and independent press deliver the news, are part of what has made our country so great. We have constitutionalized in our government the natural want of humanity to be able to express itself. I hope one day the people of Iran are able to enjoy same freedom of speech and press without having to worry about sacrificing their lives for those ideas.
The CNN.com article on the hangings: http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/01/24/iran.executions/index.html?iref=allsearch
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Thoughts on Snyder v. Phelps case
The United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case Snyder v. Phelps on October 6, 2010. However, I had been following this case long before October of 2010.
Most of you know that I was deployed in Iraq from 2006-2007. Many of you don't know that my unit lost soldiers (injury and death) to roadside bombs while I was there. When I began to hear about a Westboro Baptist Church protesting the funerals of our fallen service members (with signs like "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" and "Thank God for IEDs" it literally made me sick to my stomach and gave me an aching in my heart and stomach that words could never fully explain. The church's position is that our service members are getting killed in Iraq because we tolerate homosexuality.
Then I learned that one father, Al Snyder, finally stood up and sued this vile and disgusting group for protesting his son's funeral. The jury awarded him around $11 million, but the 4th Circuit reversed on 1st Amendment grounds and actually ended up ordering the father to pay the church $16k in fines. We will wait to see how the Supreme Court weighs in on the issue.
But how should the Supreme Court rule? How woud I rule if I was on the Court? Usually my heart and mind work together in my political and legal thought. However, this case pits the two against each other in many ways. I have spent numerous nights wondering what the "right" decision would be for the Court and what that would mean for the freedom of speech in our country. By stopping this revolting and nauseating group from doing something that stirs up hate and makes me want to commit violence against them, am I eroding our First Amendment right of free speech? On the other hand, when do we decide where the line should be drawn in our freedom of speech? Surely fighting words and intentional infliction of emotional distress put limits on that freedom, and for just cause. Does the freedom of religion have a role to play here when a father is trying to bury his son? After all, this was Al Snyder's last real chance to say goodbye to his son. We all deserve a proper funeral. Anyone who has given his life for his country deserves a respectable funeral to say the least. Instead of allowing the family to get some form of closure at the service, the Westboro Baptist Church opened their wounds and poured salt on them, potentially never allowing them to properly heal.
It is moments like these where I am humbled by how little I know. It is also a moment where I am glad to not be a judge involved in these kinds of decisions. If the Supreme Court decides this speech is not protected under the First Amendment, I pray that this will give the Snyder's some form of closure in knowing Westboro will never be able to do this to another military family who has sacrificed and suffered enough. If the Court rules the speech is protected, I will try and seek comfort in knowing the Patriot Guard is there as well to stand in front of the protesters with American Flags waiving for all to see; and may we all find some form of peace in Thomas Jefferson's quote, "If there be any among us who wish to dissolve this Union or change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it."
Interview with the father: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO6yZbwnIlk&feature=related
Oral Arguments: http://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_audio_detail.aspx?argument=09-751
Most of you know that I was deployed in Iraq from 2006-2007. Many of you don't know that my unit lost soldiers (injury and death) to roadside bombs while I was there. When I began to hear about a Westboro Baptist Church protesting the funerals of our fallen service members (with signs like "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" and "Thank God for IEDs" it literally made me sick to my stomach and gave me an aching in my heart and stomach that words could never fully explain. The church's position is that our service members are getting killed in Iraq because we tolerate homosexuality.
Then I learned that one father, Al Snyder, finally stood up and sued this vile and disgusting group for protesting his son's funeral. The jury awarded him around $11 million, but the 4th Circuit reversed on 1st Amendment grounds and actually ended up ordering the father to pay the church $16k in fines. We will wait to see how the Supreme Court weighs in on the issue.
But how should the Supreme Court rule? How woud I rule if I was on the Court? Usually my heart and mind work together in my political and legal thought. However, this case pits the two against each other in many ways. I have spent numerous nights wondering what the "right" decision would be for the Court and what that would mean for the freedom of speech in our country. By stopping this revolting and nauseating group from doing something that stirs up hate and makes me want to commit violence against them, am I eroding our First Amendment right of free speech? On the other hand, when do we decide where the line should be drawn in our freedom of speech? Surely fighting words and intentional infliction of emotional distress put limits on that freedom, and for just cause. Does the freedom of religion have a role to play here when a father is trying to bury his son? After all, this was Al Snyder's last real chance to say goodbye to his son. We all deserve a proper funeral. Anyone who has given his life for his country deserves a respectable funeral to say the least. Instead of allowing the family to get some form of closure at the service, the Westboro Baptist Church opened their wounds and poured salt on them, potentially never allowing them to properly heal.
It is moments like these where I am humbled by how little I know. It is also a moment where I am glad to not be a judge involved in these kinds of decisions. If the Supreme Court decides this speech is not protected under the First Amendment, I pray that this will give the Snyder's some form of closure in knowing Westboro will never be able to do this to another military family who has sacrificed and suffered enough. If the Court rules the speech is protected, I will try and seek comfort in knowing the Patriot Guard is there as well to stand in front of the protesters with American Flags waiving for all to see; and may we all find some form of peace in Thomas Jefferson's quote, "If there be any among us who wish to dissolve this Union or change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it."
Interview with the father: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO6yZbwnIlk&feature=related
Oral Arguments: http://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_audio_detail.aspx?argument=09-751
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
The reason for the Blog
AMENDMENT I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Classes being taken this semester
Well, since we are all in law school, maybe it would be interesting to see what everyone is taking for classes this semester. I am pretty sure anyone can comment below, so feel free to tell people what you are taking!
My semester looks like this: Agricultural Law, Administrative Law, Energy Law, Tribal Envrionmental Law Project, 1st Amendment in the Digital Age, and Water Law.
My semester looks like this: Agricultural Law, Administrative Law, Energy Law, Tribal Envrionmental Law Project, 1st Amendment in the Digital Age, and Water Law.
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