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                   FREEDOM OF SPEECH UNDER SIEGE
                       by Jarret B. Wollstein

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``I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your
right to say it.''  Francois Voltaire

``Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.''
- First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

No right is more fundamental than freedom of speech. Without freedom of
speech, we cannot express our individuality, decry social injustice,
pursue an artistic vision, investigate scientific truth, practice
religion, or criticize government. Take away freedom of speech and you
cripple personal self-development, undermine truth, and you abolish
political liberty.

Although freedom of speech can be inhibited by intolerant individuals
and groups, it can only be destroyed by the government. If Christian
Fundamentalists demand that PLAYBOY magazine be removed from store
shelves, that is not censorship. Others are free to demand just as
forcefully that PLAYBOY be kept on shelves, and merchants can reject the
Fundamentalist's demands. But when the government sends in police to
close down bookstores and imprison their owners, that is censorship.
When the government turns it s guns on peaceful citizens, argument ends
and tyranny begins.

Censorship is the use of government force to regulate what citizens may
say, read, or see. Censorship conjures up images of critics of
government being assaulted and jailed, newspapers and TV stations being
compelled to report government propaganda as news, creative artists and
musicians furtively performing in dark cellars, and storm trooper
burning books and magazines. Censorship is the handmaiden of a police
state. For over 200 years, the vast majority of Americans are abandoning
tolerance of free expres sion and dissent. Censorship is spreading like
a cancer across the land.


THE RISE OF CENSORSHIP
The 1980's witnessed the rise of a powerful Christian Fundamentalist
movement in the U.S. A major goal of the movement is to ``purify''
America by repression of ``anti-Christian'' and ``un-American''
activities including recreational drug use, nonmarital sex, nudity,
homosexuality, social dissent, drinking, and ``obscene'' speech.
Ironically America's bastions of liberalism, the colleges and
universities, were simultaneously pursuing their own authoritarian
agendas. In the name of ``diversity'' many colleges and universities
have banned ``politically incorrect'' speech. The authoritarian-
conservatives want to put you in jail if you are a homosexual, a black
drug user, or a sexually active woman. The authoritarian-liberals want
to punish you if you offend homosexuals, blacks, or women. Many
Americans still do support freedom of speech and expression - but at
present the champions of freedom are mostly politically unorganized and
weak. There are many battlefields in the war on freedom of speech. We
will consider the issue of pornography in some detail, and deal with
others more briefly.


SEX, PORNOGRAPHY & OBSCENITY
The 1990 ``Comprehensive Crime Act'' makes mere possession of three or
more items of ``child pornography'' punishable by up to five years in
prison and a $250,000 fine. ``Child pornography'' now includes any
``lascivious exhibition of the genitals or public areas''. Commenting on
a similar Ohio law which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld, dissenting
Justice Brennan warned that ``a family friend could be prosecuted for
having photographs of the friend's children playing in a bathtub.
Likewise `pictures of toples s bathers at a Mediterranean beach',
Michelangelo's nude statue of David, or the `depictions of nude children
on the friezes that adorn our courtroom' could be deemed `lewd
exhibition' or a `graphic focus' on the genitals.'' [Ruth Marcus,
``Justices Broaden Curb on Child Pornography,'' Washington Post, April
19, 1991.]

RICO statutes and other ``anti-porn'' laws have given the government the
power to seize (without indictment of trial) all of the personal and
business assets of anyone accused of selling any ``pornographic''
publications. That is exactly what happened to Dennis and Barbara Pryba
of Virginia. In October, 1990, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the
confiscation of all of their business assets totalling over $1 million,
because three of the thousands of tapes they rented in their family
video store were judged ``pornographic''.

Under the ``Child Protection and Obscenity Enforcement Act'' of 1988,
distributors of magazines and films depicting any nude adults are also
subject to total asset confiscation, if they fail to comply with the
impossible requirement of maintaining all current addresses, phone
numbers, ages, etc. for all persons depicted - forever. This law puts
publishers of any magazine depicting nudity in jeopardy - from nudist
magazines, to art magazines, to PLAYBOY and PENTHOUSE. Since there is no
clear legal criteria f or pornography, possession or sale of anything
sexual is now dangerous. Movie producers and distributors, bookstore
owners, rap musicians, theater managers, and even museum curators are
all subject to draconian fines and imprisonment.

The issue is not whether or not some depictions of sex are offensive to
some people. Rather, the question is: who decides what you have a right
to read, see, and hear? Do you decide or do people in government decide
for you?

Once censorship is initiated, the list of potential offenders becomes
endless. According to CNN News (10/19/90), 350 anti-obscenity bills are
now pending in 46 states.


GOVERNMENT SECRECY
Increasingly the government is cloaking its activities in secrecy. As
the government becomes more authoritarian, it understandably does not
want the citizenry to find out what it is up to. the 1966 Freedom of
Information Act gave American citizens access to many government files
but the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) reports that there has
been extensive foot-dragging by government agencies regarding compliance
with citizen requests under the Act.

During the Iraq war, the military enforced the most comprehensive new
management in U.S. history. soldiers were forbidden to talk to the media
without approval and supervision by military censors. Journalists were
prohibited from conducting independent news gathering, and all images of
allied dead and wounded were banned. Even within the government, there
has been an enormous expansion of censorship of its own employees and
agents. Federal employees with access to ``sensitive compartmented
information'' are required to agree to pre-publication review of
anything they write for the rest of their lives, with criminal penalties
if they violate the agreement. Four million government employees are
covered by this Directive.


THE WAR ON FREEDOM OF SPEECH
There are many other battlefields in the war for freedom of speech, a
war which advocates of freedom are losing.

POLITICALLY CORRECT SPEECH: Over 250 U.S. colleges and universities have
enacted speech codes prohibiting the utterance of any ``offensive''
racial or sexual remarks. Penalties for violations range from
reprimands, to mandatory ``sensitivity sessions'', to expulsion.
Prohibited speech at the University of Connecticut includes ``the use of
derogatory names'', ``inconsiderate jokes'', ``misdirected laughter'',
and ``conspicuous exclusion from conversation''.

PC codes even cover political views and scientific investigations. At
some universities, professors who oppose Affirmative Action quotas or
who investigate psychological differences between men and women have
been forced to keep quiet or resign.

MUZZLING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS: In January, 1988, the U.S. Supreme Court
upheld the power of high-school administrators to totally control what
students may say or publish. Writing for a majority of the Court,
Justice Byron White stated: ``A school need not tolerate student speech
that is inconsistent with its `basic educational mission'.'' The Court's
decision upheld censorship of a discussion of divorce and teen pregnancy
in the student paper at Missouri's Hazelwood East High School.

DRUG TREASON: In several drafts of the 1990 Omnibus Crime Bill (deleted
from the final bill), verbal opposition to the War on Drugs would have
been considered treason, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.


PRESERVING FREEDOM OF SPEECH
Freedom of speech is under siege. Liberal and conservative
authoritarians are firmly in control of their government, and they are
united in their hostility to free speech.

Preservation of freedom of speech is vital to preserving our individual
liberty and our future as a free nation. When sexual images and
expression are made a crime, we are robbed of an essential part of our
humanity. When government is allowed to conduct its affairs in secret,
we lose control of the government, and it starts to control us. When
science is sacrificed to politics, progress is crippled. When our
campuses become fountainheads of censorship and regimentation, our
future is in jeopardy. And when we lose our freedom to speak out and
resolve our differences peacefully, violence becomes inevitable.

For over 200 years America has stood for liberty and the pursuit of
individual happiness. It would be a tragic irony if the 1991
bi-centennial of the Bill of Rights marked the end of free speech in
America. America desperately needs a new generation of patriots for
liberty - men and women of courage who will stand up and be at least as
vocal, competent, and effective at defending freedom, as freedom's
enemies have become at destroying it. In the closing years of the 20th
century, we must act now to restore our precious heritage of liberty -
or lose it forever.


                     RECOMMENDED READING LIST

Bookbanning in America - William Noble ...................... $21.95
Illiberal Education: the Politics of Race and
Sex on Campus - Dinesh D'Souza .............................. $15.95
The New Right v. The Constitution - Stephen Macedo ..........  $7.95
Pornography: The Other Side - F.M. Christensen .............. $19.95

For these and other books and tapes write: Freedom's Forum Books, 1800
Market Street, San Francisco, California 94102. Add $2.50 P & H for 1st
book and $1.00 for each additional item.

Additional (hard)copies of this attractive two-color pamphlet are
available for 5 cents each (minimum order $1.00). Price includes
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