What's the state of free speech in America? Sanford Ungar, who teaches about it at Harvard and Georgetown, has a depressing answer. "It's a mess."
It's not just the problems on college campuses where speakers haven't been allowed to talk, or Charlottesville, Va., where a counter-protester was run over and killed, or President Donald Trump's call for the firings or suspensions of NFL players who take a knee during the national anthem.
A problem also is developing in states where legislatures are considering and sometimes approving laws that restrict free speech.
The lunch-counter sit-ins that were a staple of civil rights protests in the '60s would, under some new legislation, be punishable because they "disrupt commerce." And the demonstrations that brought thousands into the streets to protest the Vietnam War would be a crime because they blocked traffic.
Twenty-seven states have considered such legislation, he said. Twelve bills have become law.
Some of the bills sound perfectly acceptable at first because their purported aim is tranquility. But protest isn't always as mild as milk.
In Iowa, the legislature considered a bill to punish protesters who block highway traffic with up to five years in prison. In North Dakota, the governor signed a bill that would punish masked individuals in any public forum who are trying to conceal their identity. In Arizona, the state Senate approved a bill that would add "rioting" to organized crime statutes,
It amounts to a nationwide movement to chill speech. While countering this trend won't be easy, Ungar is making a start with the Free Speech Project, based at Georgetown, with funding from the university and the Miami-based John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
One element is a Free Speech Tracker, which has more than 50 entries for troubling incidents or legislation around the country.
His effort will keep track of what's happening and find ways to promote civil discussion across political divisions. "Everybody believes in free speech," Ungar notes, "until you get to the topic on which they don't."
Editorial on 09/26/2017