Re: Freedom Forum report on the State of the First Amendment

[Tim May <tcmay@got.net>]

At 4:46 PM -0700 12/18/97, Declan McCullagh wrote:

>   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.

This is part of why the First Amendment is being eroded constantly. It is
seen as a _political_ issue.

The role of the _county_ in hiring or not hiring Keen Umbehr is
problematic, but not because of prior restraint issues.

Were far, far, far fewer persons hired by the government, the issue would
be much simpler.

Suppose RealBig Corporation fired Umbehr for his views. Would a First
Amendment issue have arisen? Of course not. In a free society, RealBig is
free to hire whom it wishes, and to refuse to hire niggers, homos,
perverts, Jews, whatever. And to fire anyone who wrote opinions the
managers at RealBig disliked.

Mr. Umbehr may have had a cause of action based on his employment contract,
and the various rules which govern government employees, but it was hardly
a First Amendment case.

Except in the "liberal" sense, which is exactly why the First is being eroded.

--Tim May


--Tim May

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