A Victory for The First Amendment! Dino will hate it!
Homosexclamation! Christian student fights prof, wins big
Judge rules college can’t censor religious speech for being ‘offensive’
A California court has ruled in favor of a student who was insulted for defending traditional marriage and has ordered the college to strike from its website a sexual harassment policy that censors speech deemed “offensive” to homosexual people.
As reported, Jonathan Lopez, a student at Los Angeles City College, was delivering a speech on his Christian faith in speech class when professor John Matteson interrupted him, called him a “fascist b——rd” for mentioning a moral conviction against homosexual marriage and later told him to “ask God what your grade is.”
”Professor Matteson clearly violated Mr. Lopez’s free speech rights by engaging in viewpoint discrimination and retaliation because he disagreed with the student’s religious beliefs,” said ADF Senior Counsel David French in a statement. “Moreover, the district has a speech code that has created a culture of censorship on campus. America’s public universities and colleges are supposed to be a ‘marketplace of ideas,’ not a hotbed of intolerance.”
In a ruling handed down last week, U.S. District Judge George H. King apparently agreed, calling the campus policy “unconstitutionally overbroad” and ordering it to be stricken from the college’s website.
“Thus,” the ruling concluded, “the policy reaches constitutionally protected speech that is merely offensive to some listeners, such as discussions of religion, homosexual relations and marriage, sexual morality and freedom, polygamy, or even gender politics and policies. Indeed, the LACC’s website indicates that sexual harassment can include ‘sexist statements ... or degrading attitudes/comments about women or men.’ This could include an individual’s outdated, though protected, opinions on the proper role of the genders. While it may be desirable to promote harmony and civility, these values cannot be enforced at the expense of protected speech under the First Amendment. Thus, the policy is unconstitutionally overbroad.”
Christian students shouldn’t be penalized for expressing their beliefs at a public college,” commented French on the judge’s decision. “We are pleased that the court has taken this step to ensure that the First Amendment rights of students are not violated. We will continue to litigate this case to make sure the constitutional rights of our client and other students at the college are protected.”
It is about time one judge in this country had the courage to stand up for the truth and decided that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights mean exactly what they say. It is about time a judge somewhere said that every citizen has an equal right to the public square, even to say things that are offensive and dead wrong, racist, sexist or even politically dangerous. It is about time a judge somewhere said that Christians (all religions really) have equal rights as citizens.
I do not want this professor fired, I want him supended for a time without pay and to come back with a new appreciation of OUR Constitution.
