From the Associated Press:

By JEFF BARNARD
Associated Press

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — A federal appeals court ruled Friday that bloggers and the public have the same First Amendment protections as journalists when sued for defamation: If the issue is of public concern, plaintiffs have to prove negligence to win damages.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a new trial in a defamation lawsuit brought by an Oregon bankruptcy trustee against a Montana blogger who wrote online that the court-appointed trustee criminally mishandled a bankruptcy case.

At first blush, good news for our First Amendment overall.  I have had concerns for quite some time, relating to our foundational freedoms — most recently by writing this post regarding Demorats wanting to expand so-called “hate speech” — and their ability to thrive and continue in a “Progressive” and “politically correct” world.

Gregg Leslie of the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press said the ruling affirms what many have long argued: Standards set by a 1974 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Gertz v. Robert Welch Inc., apply to everyone, not just journalists.

“It’s not a special right to the news media,” he said. “So it’s a good thing for bloggers and citizen journalists and others.”

Is it possible the nation is beginning to realize that “breaking news” is no longer continuously and regularly broken by staid and old media outlets but, occasionally, by those persons and concerns who have an immediate and compelling presence in the blogosphere and the internet in toto?

“It makes clear that bloggers have the same First Amendment rights as professional journalists,” he (UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh) said. “There had been similar precedents before concerning advocacy groups, other writers and book authors. This follows a fairly well established chain of precedents. I believe it is the first federal appeals court level ruling that applies to bloggers.”

This is the same Eugene Volokh of the Volokh Conspiracy site, an older and respected blog in the digital ether with millions of hits extant.

A plus for bloggers; like myself and my cohorts.

One win this week.  Is it enough?

BZ

Once again, the Demorats are going after our freedoms.  It is clear they do not understand the foundational documents of this nation.

The First Amendment was crafted not to protect speech of Jello, but challenging speech.

From TheHill.com:

by Pete Kasperowicz

Thirteen House Democrats have proposed legislation that would require the government to study hate speech on the Internet, mobile phones and television and radio.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and 12 other House Democrats, would look at how those media are used to “advocate and encourage violent acts and the commission of crimes of hate.”

The Hate Crime Reporting Act, H.R. 3878, is meant to update a 20-year-old study from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). That study, delivered to Congress in 1993, looked at hate speech on radio, TV and computer bulletin boards.

Let me state the obvious, if I might refer to a phrase used in another venue, applicable here: “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.”

As in: “one man’s hate speech is another man’s freedom of expression and opinion.”

Any fool can see that.

Texas Fred recently wrote about the corrupting and acidic nature of political correctness.

That and the push to eliminate so-called “hate speech” is a push to eliminate and cast aside the very freedoms that make us the most sought-after nation on the planet.  But those freedoms are dwindling monthly and yearly.

I submit we need to be reminded, again, of what hate speech laws have done to the United Kingdom, as I wrote here on December 27th, one mere month ago:

That said, can you imagine this in the United States:

• A man given four months in prison for a “racist rant” on a commuter train;
• 54 days in prison for “racist Tweets”;
• 21 weeks in prison for a “racist rant” on another train;
• 18 months in prison for singing a “racist song”;
• 8 months in prison for sending four “racist texts”;
• 4 months in prison for posting “Islamophobic remarks” on Facebook;
• 16 weeks for more “racist” texts;
• Prison time for being “Islamophobic” on the internet;
• 8 months for inciting “hatred” of Catholics on Facebook;
• 15 months in prison for uploading “racist” clips on YouTube;
• 2 weeks in jail for shouting at some “foreign people” on a commuter train;
• A man slammed in a cell for having a “potentially racist” ring-tone;
• A man got jail time for revving his car in a “racist” manner;
• A male who got three months in prison for “impersonating a monkey” in the direction of a Senegalise soccer player;

If Americans were locked up for any of these alleged “violations,” what would you think or do?

Please allow me to make three immediate observations:

1) “Racism” and “offense” can easily exist in the mind of the beholder and nowhere else in reality;
2) The day that the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights is abrogated in any fashion to the above, predicated upon #1 — that is the day that this country is lighted aflame.  Trust me on this.
3) Certain groups can never commit “hate” crimes or speech or thoughts or acts?  That is hypocritical and offensive and wrong.  Racism CAN come in the color of dark and terrorism CAN come from Islam.  I say again and again: “Islam IS as Islam DOES.”

You think this kind of thing can’t happen here in America?  You’re quite wrong.

The push is here.  The push is now.

BZ