Our freedom of speech hangs in the balance

Dear Readers, Our free speech rights hang in the balance.  United States Attorney General, Pam Bondi, recently said, “There’s free speech and then there’s hate speech … We will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech.”  An alarming take on “unfree” speech. 

The First Amendment prohibits government interference with even “hate” speech.  The Justice Department’s suggesting, it would do just this are the words of a Vladimir Putin, not our highest law enforcement official. 

The next day, Ms. Bondi tried to “walk back” her constitutional gaffe by correctly writing, “Hate speech that crosses the line into threats of violence is NOT protected by the First Amendment. It’s a crime.”  This is true.

Ms. Bondi “politicized” her agenda, writing further, “For far too long, we’ve watched the radical left normalize threats, call for assassinations, and cheer on political violence. That era is over. Free speech protects ideas, debate, even dissent, but it does NOT and will NEVER protect violence.”  Essentially, saying this country is a victim of left-leaning speech, disregarding the poison also flowing from the right.

This is “cancel culture,” a gollum of the right, but being directed against the “left.”  We stand divided, rooting for “red” jerseys or “blue” jerseys, regardless of reality.  There is a knee-jerk reaction that the other side is wrong, irrespective of facts.

As a nation, we thrive when dissent is broad and freely spoken; we are a country of diverse voices and we are not Russia.

President Trump has used legally questionable lawsuits to suppress speech where he disagrees with the views expressed.  No President should use his or her office or ability to bring private lawsuits to bully dissent.

ABC/Disney was sued because George Stephanopoulos imprecisely described President Trump as having been “found liable for rape” and “defaming the victim of that rape.”  This is inaccurate.  A civil jury, with a lower civil burden of proof, determined that E. Jean Carroll had been sexually assaulted by President Trump.  The distinction, though, is a thin reed.

CBS/Paramount was sued because of an edited 60 Minutes interview of Kamala Harris.  As a program, 60 Minutes always edits its interviews down for time and it is not clear how the clip published caused any injury.

In both situations, economic calculations were made to settle, despite the claims lacking legal substance.  Free speech suffers.

Cancel culture outside of government is regrettable, but constitutional.  Across the nation, people are losing private employment because they failed to treat the tragedy of Charlie Kirk’s murder with appropriate solemnity and sorrow.

Danger signs flash when the government does the same thing.  Jimmy Kimmel was effectively fired (indefinite suspension) by ABC/Disney because he mocked MAGA’s response to Charlie Kirk’s senseless assassination.  His initial reaction was condemning the murder and lending his emotional support to Mr. Kirk’s family.

In July, Stephen Colbert’s late-night show was cancelled by CBS/Paramount, as it was seeking approval for a merger.  President Trump commented, “Jimmy Kimmel was next.”

Brendan Carr is the chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), with authority over media mergers.  The day after Kimmel’s comments, Mr. Carr went on Benny Johnson’s podcast, ominously saying, “This is a very, very serious issue right now for Disney.  We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

Nexstar is seeking a merger of ABC affiliates, which would blast through the FCC’s 40% rule of national affiliate broadcast reach.  It needs FCC approval of its pending merger.  In a call and response, it announced its affiliates were pulling Jimmy Kimmel’s show.  Disney responded to this pressure with the indefinite suspension.  The White House cheered and Mr. Carr rejoined, “We’re not done yet.”

Connect the dots: private action (constitutionally permitted) was coerced by Mr. Carr’s threats. A President and his FCC chair pressure a corporation, frankly stating the “quiet part out loud,” to axe an entertainment thorn.  This is government coercion.

President Trump is now suing two (2) of our largest national newspapers – the Wall Street Journal (from whom he normally receives favorable coverage) and the New York Times (a thorn in his side).  Both papers are large well-heeled conglomerates and signaling they are up for a legal fight.  Good for them; good for us.

Free speech and freedom of the press may be meaningless phrases.  It looks like they are on life support; we should be scared.

Warner Robins attorney Jim Rockefeller is the former Chief Assistant District Attorney for Houston County, and a former Assistant State Attorney in Miami.  Owner of Rockefeller Law Center, Jim has been in private practice since 2000.  E-mail your comments or confidential legal questions to ajr@rockefellerlawcenter.com.