Re: Bernstein hearing: The Press Release

[Declan McCullagh <declan@eff.org>]

On Sun, 22 Sep 1996, Timothy C. May wrote:

> If California were to, say, ban speech critical of women's or homosexual's
> rights, would not the First Amendment trump this attempt?

Not necessarily.

The Supreme Court has upheld Title VII's ban on workplace "harassment." 
The Court said it occured when "discriminatory intimidation, ridicule, and
insult" in a workplace create an uncomfortable "working environment." 

Then there's public accomodation law, under which the (I recall) Greek
owner of a privately-operated diner was held liable for using the word
"nigger" where a black woman could overhear. 

Clearly, speech that makes someone uncomfortable must be banned by the 
government.

-Declan

(More on some of this at http://joc.mit.edu/)


// declan@eff.org // I do not represent the EFF // declan@well.com //