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To: SirJohnBarleycorn

Wouldn’t make it right under the First Amendment, which is what I thought we were discussing.


15 posted on 03/18/2010 7:40:01 PM PDT by doc1019 (To call Obama a bumbling idiot would be an insult to bumbling idiots worldwide.)
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To: doc1019
Wouldn’t make it right under the First Amendment, which is what I thought we were discussing.

My point was that your counter-example of yelling fire in a crowded theater is not relevant to a dicussion of a First Amendment case of prosecution for a bias crime.

Another example is defamation - if you slander a private person, those mere words are not protected by the First Amendment. But that also is not relevant to a discussion of a First Amendment case of prosecution for a bias crime.

I think if this is a bystander who grabbed the phone without authorization and said what he said, he is protected under the First Amendment from bias crime prosecution for the content of what he said. Maybe the store could get him for some sort of trespassing, however.

On the other hand, if it was an employee who grabbed the phone and said what he said, Wal-Mart may well be in violation of state anti-discrimination laws applicable to public accomodations.

26 posted on 03/18/2010 8:31:21 PM PDT by SirJohnBarleycorn
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