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| Witchvox Chapter: Wren's Nest News | Chapter Page Views: 54,915,499 |
 First Amendment Doesn’t Shield Us From Private Infringements Author: Gene Policinski Source: First Amendment Center Title: FIRST AMENDMENT DOESN’T SHIELD US FROM PRIVATE INFRINGEMENTS Every American is protected by the guarantees of the First Amendment, but protections for religious liberty and free expression apply only when government actions are involved — and therein is the rub for some of our fellow citizens. A former Home Depot employee raised freedom of religion as a defense last week after he was fired for wearing a "One nation under God" button on his company apron. But store officials say Home Depot has a policy that staffers may wear only company-provided pins and badges when they are on duty, and that the policy applies regardless of the words or meaning of a button or other emblem. Online retailer eBay said recently that it would block an auction planned to raise money to help pay legal-defense costs for the man charged with the killing earlier this year of a Kansas physician who performed abortions. The company said it "does not allow listings that promote or glorify violence, hate, racial or religious intolerance.” In both instances, the concept that as citizens we are free to express ourselves as we see fit runs smack into the legal reality that private employers, associations, Internet companies and such aren’t restrained by First Amendment protections regarding religion, speech, press, assembly or petition. | |
| Community Thoughts: There are 7 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| Right Does Not Abrogate Responsibility... | Nov 3rd. at 3:22:29 pm EST |
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bigcat (peoria, Illinois) - Email Me having the right of free speech does not give one the right to practice it everywhere. A company for instance has its own agendas to which it will or will not support and some companies feel quite strongly about this, whatever the reasons even if some of it's employees may feel differently. It is similar to the argument of those employees refusing to do a part of their jobs that they disagree with. They may claim the right to refuse, but sooner or later, they may be asked to find somewhere else to work if they keep doing it too often. |
| This Is Interesting... | Nov 3rd. at 2:20:09 pm EST |
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Angel Fire (Claremore, Oklahoma) - Email Me This is interesting to me because it made me think. First of all, this article stated that the Home Depot did not let someone wear a "one nation under God" button on their apron. The person who had done that should realize that, while they should have the right to express their opinion about religion, the Home Depot could get sued for letting one of their employees wear such an emblem. The other part that made me think is the story about Ebay not letting advertisment for donations for legal counsel for the one that killed the doctor. I believe that Ebay is right in doing this action. While I believe that taking a life, even a fetus, is wrong according to the Wiccan Rede, it is also wrong to go to the extreme that the killer did because it also violates the Wiccan Rede. Praise Ebay for saying that violence is wrong. They have their priorities straight. |
| Too Many Politicians | Nov 3rd. at 8:50:08 am EST |
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Ananta Androscoggin (Greene, Maine) - Email Me This is something which TOO MANY POLITICIANS never understand. Once they are elected to office, and they're involved in meetings for your town, county, or state government, while they are on the Taxpayer's dime, (on the job) they are not speaking for themselves, they are representing the government they are supposed to be serving in. They can talk stupidity all they want when on their own time, but once the governmental stuff begins, their personal rights are subsumed by the duties of a public official. Christianity DOES NOT have a constitutional special right to exclusive influence in the halls of our government, despite that they have behaved as if they do for the past couple of centuries. |
| What Looks Paradoxical | Nov 3rd. at 8:24:18 am EST |
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Figlia della Luna (New Orleans, Louisiana) - Email Me really isn't at all. Private companies are the same as private citizens when it comes to the right of free speech - they don't have to let YOU represent their views if they don't want. Therefore, eBay doesn't have to allow an auction to fundraise for a murderer, and Home Depot can regulate what you wear on their premises. Especially as an employee, when you are at work, you represent the company, not yourself - and if you don't like it, you can leave. You may need the income, but you don't have to work where you're miserable or stifled. Either that, or wait until you get off their property, and say what you want. Buy your own domain name. You have rights, certainly, but they don't mean you can break the rules of an at-will employer and keep your job. |
| You Would Think.... | Nov 3rd. at 5:09:11 am EST |
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Aramara (Kailua-Kona, Hawaii) - Email Me That the 1st amendment does protect your freedom of speech...but it does NOT on private property. As a previous poster stated - in shopping malls, parking lots, etc. YOUR freedom is not protected. Seems strange to me...I had a moment at the Farmer's Market where I sell fresh produce and food where I was told my bumper sticker was "inappropriate". I asked the Farmer's Market manager who is always on the ball....yep. Go figure - he won anyway (the local canidate!) Some people just have to make a stink about stuff.... |
| "Rights" - And "Privileges" | Nov 2nd. at 11:32:00 pm EST |
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nasionnaich (Stanchfield, Minnesota) - Email Me This is what many people -- myself included -- have been saying for years. Yes, "We, the People" have always had the right to speak our minds, both vocally and in print (writing) , concerning how we feel about our Government. We have NEVER had the "right" to say -- or display -- whatever the hell we want, wherever the hell we want, to hell with whether we are amongst friends or at the store/work place/etc. In other words, we are NOT allowed to label others as "criminals" without proof, nor wear pins and buttons not authorized ("permitted") by our employers. Go ahead and start hollering about how your boss is "Evil Incarnate" while you are at work -- I bet you'll soon be unemployed. If the "speech" is not connected in some way to Government, people, it is a privilege -- not a "right". --nasionnaich |
| Weak And Strong Points In Article | Nov 2nd. at 10:16:48 pm EST |
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Terry (Irvington, Virginia) - Email Me This article does well to catch the fact that if ISP's or other new virtual forums become the equivalent of town greens, law may evolve to treat them as quasi-public. That's a messy issue already among states, when shopping malls provide common access to food services, or act as physical equivalents to public places traditionally in government domains. It misses an important judicial inconsistency that may well represent some Supreme Courts not doing their job due to political bias. Finally, after many decades, there is a pending case that stands to rule on treating the 2nd Amendment as subject to Incorporation Doctrine and a few related legal principles already ruled as applying to most of the Bill of Rights. It violates "judicial consistency" to pretend state firearm laws that abridge citizen rights to own any military arms useful for taking down corrupt governments, ours or theirs as needed, don't violate the US Constitution just as much as speech, religion, privacy, due process, and other enumerated rights. |
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