Friday, October 2, 2009

Free Speech Curtailed for the Sake of a Pluralistic Society

When I opened up the latest SAFS newsletter, I ran across a reprint of Jonathan Turley's column in the Washington Post, April 12, 2009: "The Free World Bars Free Speech". Aside from learning about Dutch, Italian, British and Indian cases of repressing speech, a most chilling quote hit close to home: "History has shown that once governments begin to police speech, they find ever more of it to combat. Countries such as Canada, England and France have prosecuted speakers and journalists for criticizing homosexuals and other groups. It's the ultimate irony: free speech curtailed for the sake of a pluralistic society". It is well worth reading Turley's entire column. Turley is a law professor at George Washington University. More about SAFS involvement in current Academic Freedom issues / cases in Canada here - the ongoing discourse is archived online.

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