Freedom Forum report on the State of the First Amendment

[Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>]

On Tuesday I stopped by the Freedom Forum's conference, where they released
a report on the state of the First Amendment. It's worth checking out:

  http://www.freedomforum.org/newsstand/reports/sofa/intro.asp

	Each day of this nation's life, in meetings of school boards,
	library boards, city councils, state legislatures, and Congress
	itself, figures of respect and renown rise on behalf of a
	supportive public and proclaim, "I believe in the First
	Amendment, but—" Each such announcement precedes a proposal
	to regulate our speech in order to elevate our lives.

	And so we have one of the more equisite ironies of a
	freedom-loving society: Americans truly believe they believe in
	free speech. Still, there is always that "but," that
	qualification of their commitment to the rights and values
	embedded in those 45 words of the First Amendment. In survey
	after survey, Americans stand steadfast in support of the general
	notion of free speech. In the particulars, however, we waver.
	When asked to countenance the very speech the First Amendment was
	drawn to protect—the speech of the radical, the rascal, even
	the revolting—we become unsure. We do believe in free speech
	for ourselves, but for the most part we are not so sure about
	others, especially those whose words offend our taste, threaten
	our children, or challenge our convictions.

Also at the conference:

   http://www.freedomforum.org/first/1997/12/16sofa.asp

   Keynote speaker Keen Umbehr told the audience that he lost his job,
   his community and even family and friends during his First Amendment
   battle with the county commission in Wabaunsee County, Kansas.

   Umbehr, who had a contract to haul the county's trash, also wrote
   editorials for the local newspaper, often alleging violations of law
   and other misconduct by the county commission. "What I wrote was true,
   and I could back it up," Umbehr said. "I believed that my
   constitutional rights were live and real, waiting to be activated. I
   felt that writing articles and speaking out about the government not
   only was my right, it was my duty to speak the truth, regardless of
   the fact that my whole livelihood was based on that county contract."

   The county terminated his contract in retaliation for his articles.
   Umbehr sued, and the case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
   In June 1996 the court upheld Umbehr's free-speech rights.

   "The troops on the front lines of the First Amendment fight
   desperately need some help," Umbehr told the audience of attorneys,
   scholars and experts. "You have the knowledge in here, and they need
   it out there."

-Declan