Why Do Leftists Hate Free Speech?

[seer]

Why on earth would students protest a presentation on the First Amendment - while exercising their First Amendment rights? Are they that clueless?

The dean of the CUNY School of Law is speaking out in defense of student protesters who heckled a conservative speaker on campus recently, saying the "non-violent, limited protest was a reasonable exercise of free speech."

The students disrupted Josh Blackman for roughly eight minutes as he attempted to give a presentation in support of the First Amendment, shouting that "legal objectivity is a myth" and calling him a "white supremacist."

https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10786

[Mountain Man]

Is being disruptive protected under the First Amendment? I'm not sure that it is.

[Roy]

Apparently Josh Blackman can't do arithmetic.

“I was invited to speak at CUNY Law for an hour-long discussion on free speech. I had planned to speak for about 45 minutes, and leave the remainder for Q&A,” he explained. “The protesters interrupted me for roughly eight minutes, and only left when I tried to engage them on the issues.”
...
“I was not able to give the presentation I wanted—both in terms of duration and content—because of the hecklers,” said Blackman."

1hr less 8 minutes is 52 minutes - plenty of time for a 45-minute presentation. All the protesters did was reduce the time available for Q&A.

[seer]

1hr less 8 minutes is 52 minutes - plenty of time for a 45-minute presentation. All the protesters did was reduce the time available for Q&A.

That was not my point - the students were exercising their First Amendment rights to protest a presentation on the First Amendment!

[Mountain Man]

They interrupted him for 8 minutes, but how long to escort them out and get the crowd settled down before he could continue? Plus interrupting the flow of his presentation where he probably had to repeat parts of it to reengage the audience, and so on. He could have easily lost 20 minutes.

But regardless, he was not allowed to give the presentation he wanted, which was the point.

[Roy]

That was not my point - the students were exercising their First Amendment rights to protest a presentation on the First Amendment!

Why is some-one presenting on the first amendment complaining about other people exercising it?

[Mountain Man]

Why is some-one presenting on the first amendment complaining about other people exercising it?

This why I asked if being disruptive is necessarily protected under the First Amendment. You might have the right to say it, but does that also give you the right to interrupt somebody else's speech to say it? I'm not certain of that.

[One Bad Pig]

Apparently Josh Blackman can't do arithmetic.

“I was invited to speak at CUNY Law for an hour-long discussion on free speech. I had planned to speak for about 45 minutes, and leave the remainder for Q&A,” he explained. “The protesters interrupted me for roughly eight minutes, and only left when I tried to engage them on the issues.”
...
“I was not able to give the presentation I wanted—both in terms of duration and content—because of the hecklers,” said Blackman."

1hr less 8 minutes is 52 minutes - plenty of time for a 45-minute presentation. All the protesters did was reduce the time available for Q&A.

You're making some unwarranted assumptions here. How long did he attempt to engage them on the issues before they left? How long did it take to pick up the threads of his speech and re-cover needed ground so he could pick back up smoothly where he left off?

[mikewhitney]

Why is some-one presenting on the first amendment complaining about other people exercising it?

The problem lies in the fact that these children are protesting with slanderous ad hominem attacks against a speaker who is not from some extremist group. The students, in law school, should be learning to debate rather than protest topics in national discussion.

Instead of protests, these kids could have requested that a debate be held on a subsequent day as to whether free speech should be allowed.

Also, part of the purpose of free speech is to permit dialog on issues which are unsettled or were resolved incorrectly. This is supposed to be an intellectual discussion for the betterment of the government. If there is no discussion allowed (due, for example, to protestors), then we don't have a way to discern what actions are best.

Every guest speaker shouldn't be the topic of protest. Save these sorts of protests for use against the government when it has not acted within its powers to work for the benefit of the people.

[Starlight]

Worth bearing in mind that the First Amendment is a restriction on the government in how it acts, not a human right and thus not a restriction on private citizens. It seems to me that the US conservatives often don't seem to understand that distinction and confuse the two, possibly including here. One private citizen is under zero legal obligation to respect the 'First Amendment rights' of any other private citizen.

Furthermore how the First Amendment is interpreted by courts is certainly a valid matter for debate and protest. e.g. Should corporations have First Amendment rights or should they only apply to people? To what extent does paying money count as protected speech (e.g. see Citizens United etc)? etc.

[Tassman]

Why is some-one presenting on the first amendment complaining about other people exercising it?

Exactly, it's ironical to say the least!

[seer]

Exactly, it's ironical to say the least!

No Tass, he was complaining about not being allowed to speak, never mind that he was slandered (which is illegal). But given how many conservative speakers have been shut down completely on College campuses lately I'm sure you are all for it.

[seer]

Worth bearing in mind that the First Amendment is a restriction on the government in how it acts, not a human right and thus not a restriction on private citizens. It seems to me that the US conservatives often don't seem to understand that distinction and confuse the two, possibly including here. One private citizen is under zero legal obligation to respect the 'First Amendment rights' of any other private citizen.

Isn't the City University of New York a government founded and supported school:CUNY was created in 1961, by New York State legislation, signed into law by Governor Nelson Rockefeller.

[Roy]

You're making some unwarranted assumptions here.

No, just reading the link.

How long did he attempt to engage them on the issues before they left?

Not long. “The protesters interrupted me for roughly eight minutes, and only left when I tried to engage them on the issues.”.

How long did it take to pick up the threads of his speech and re-cover needed ground so he could pick back up smoothly where he left off?

No time at all, since there was nothing to re-cover or pick back up: When Blackman arrived, however, he was met with protesters who prevented him from speaking for the first eight minutes of his speech.

[Roy]

They interrupted him for 8 minutes, but how long to escort them out and get the crowd settled down before he could continue? Plus interrupting the flow of his presentation where he probably had to repeat parts of it to reengage the audience, and so on. He could have easily lost 20 minutes.

You really should read things before commenting on them.