Tuesday, the Boulder City Council will take up the matter of allocating public funding for a "hate hotline," which would give residents an opportunity to report incidents in which Boulderites use tactless language.
"Our concern - and there are many - is that there is no confidentiality, no legal confidentiality," explains Judd Golden, chairman of the Boulder American Civil Liberties Union, which has not yet taken an official position on the hate-line. "So it's potentially chilling if people think they are providing this information in confidence and then that information were provided to the government or the government sought access to it. That would chill free speech."
Golden says the agenda item on the hotline is "extensive" and a "real dilemma" for the ACLU. There are some very "broad standards" laid out in the resolution.
There is, for instance, the policy statement condemning the usual individual or collective acts of racism and bigotry. Great. But it also condemns those who attack "personal beliefs and values."
"Well, for the ACLU, that goes over the line," Golden says. "You can object to free speech just because someone is a Republican or a Democrat."
Contrary to what some may believe, racists and bigots do still have protected free speech rights. We, as Americans, have a Constitutional right to say moronic things if it strikes our fancy. Of course, that means we have to put up with a lot of baloney from mouth-breathing haters, but that's a small price to pay for not having to live in a society where an off-color joke to your neighbor might get you reported to the government.