Sunday, September 25, 2011
My Freedom of Speech or Your Freedom of Speech
There was a Israeli diplomat, Michael Oren, speaking at UC Irivine about Israeli relations. During his speech, 10 Muslim men stood up and spoke; their comments were individual and included “propagating murder is not an expression of free speech”. Their interruptions were choreographed, and speeches preplanned. This event went to court. In Orange County a judge found them guilty of disruption and sentenced them to 56 hours of community service and 3 years of informal probation. The judge said that this situation did not require jail time and the probation could be reduced if executed within the year.
The issue at hand is both free exercise and freedom of speech. Was it right for the judge to convict these individuals for exercising their right to express their religious views? Was this conviction a direct infringement on a person’s right to free speech? For me, this case is more about free speech. Was what they did, rude? Absolutely. But, I do not think that it was unconstitutional. Of course, these Muslims did block Oren’s chance to speak freely. But what they did does not justify a court ruling, let alone finding them guilty. Technically, the court is judging whose free speech trumps whose.
Some have offered their opinions on the matter. An Islamic Shura Council of Southern California commented that this ruling is evidence that islamaphobia is present in Orange County. He argued that this is going to cause a “slippery slope” as a reason for justifying the suppression of freedom of speech and further phobia in the country. I agree with him. This court ruling has likely set the standard. I wonder how the court would have judged if it was an Islamic extremists speaking and Christians stood up and spoke their beliefs. I don’t know if it would have been the same ruling. It is important to keep in mind that this event is occurring post-9/11. Circumstance has much to do with this event.
One aspect of the incident that I wish that I had more information on is what exactly were these individuals saying. If they were making comments that pushed people to think that they were going to harm others or themselves in the near future, they I might argue that this ruling is justified. But, if they were making comments that simply went against the views of Oren and were strictly political, then it’s a different story.
In conclusion, I think that more information needs to be researched as to the specific comments. But, to me, it does seem like the court did actively suppress these Muslims freedom of speech.
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