Free Republic

(CNSNews.com) – The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) is advancing federal regulations that require federally funded organizations caring for illegal alien minors who are in the United States without their parents (Unaccompanied Children or UC) and who may have been sexually abused access to “emergency contraception” services. “Emergency contraception” includes abortion-inducing drugs. These care providers currently include Catholic and other faith-based organizations that oppose abortion, according to the Center for Family and Human Rights or C-FAM, a Catholic advocacy group. The Interim Final Rule was published in the Federal Register on Dec. 24,...

Political correctness is the bludgeon cultural Marxists wield to demagogue the craven into obedience. It is the meme employed that ensures the acceptable form of social engineering. I reject “political correctness” in all of its constructs and have pledged to myself that I will never succumb to what amounts to a veiled unconstitutional attempt to enslave the nation on a plantation of forced group think, group speak and group behavior. Such was the gist of a conversation I recently had with Susan Highfield. She suffered under the fallacious idea that certain speech was permissible only for her to use. She...

As the Federal Communications Commission and Federal Election Commission toy with regulating aspects of the Internet, critics on those agencies are warning that speed and freedom of speech are in jeopardy. In a joint column, Federal Communications Commission member Ajit Pai and Federal Election Commission member Lee Goodman, leveled the boom on the Obama-favored regulations, essentially charging that it will muck up the freedom the nation has come to expect from the Internet. In one key passage of the column published in Politico, the duo wrote Monday that heavy-handed FCC regulations like those imposed in Europe will significantly slow down

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson has offered florist Barronelle Stutzman a deal: She can cater to same-sex weddings or she can stop doing weddings altogether. Of course, there’s always a third option: She can go out of business. Ms. Stutzman, the 70-year-old owner of Arlene’s Flowers in Richland, Washington, is opting for none of the above. “Your offer reveals that you don’t really understand me or what this conflict is all about,” Ms. Stutzman said in a letter to Mr. Ferguson. “It’s about freedom, not money. I certainly don’t relish the idea of losing my business, my home, and everything...

The Supreme Court has rejected a free-speech appeal from guides in New Orleans who object to having to be licensed to lead tours. The justices did not comment Monday in leaving in place lower court rulings that said the licensing requirements do not violate the First Amendment. …

A Washington grandmother and florist of 40 years who refused to service gay weddings because of her faith will now be forced to arrange flowers for gay ceremonies, a judge ruled Wednesday. On top of that, the woman, Barronelle Stutzman, will have to pay the legal penalties imposed by the judge as well as attorney’s fees. Benton County Superior Court Judge Alex Ekstrom ruled in a summary judgement that Stutzman violated anti-discrimination and consumer protection laws. Ekstrom ruled that the gay couple could collect penalties not just from her business, but also from her personally, according to Alliance Defending Freedom,...

A man-on-street video. The University of Michigan took some pretty big steps toward stifling free speech on its campus this month with its “Inclusive Language” program. They’ve even gone as far as to create a list of “unacceptable words”. Just how important is the 1st amendment to students today. I’m pretty sure that after watching the video, you’ll feel more compelled to protect the 1st amendment than ever before!

(CNSNews.com) – An administrative law judge in Oregon has ruled against Melissa Klein’s effort to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a lesbian couple after Klein declined to make their wedding cake because of her biblical belief that marriage is the sacred union of one man and one woman. A hearing in March will now determine what fines will be levied against Klein for “damages” suffered by the lesbians. Attorneys for Klein, owner with her husband Aaron Klein of Sweet Cakes by Melissa in Gresham, Ore., had sought to have the case dismissed and to be awarded $200,000 in legal...

The federal government, taking pages from the playbooks of Communist nations like China, is preparing regulations that will have profound impacts on free speech online. If the regulations succeed via the Federal Elections Committee, any posts, videos or news stories posted in support or opposition of a candidate will be considered a political contribution. The FEC closely regulates contribution limits, meaning that blogs and Youtubers would have their free speech capped once their content value surpasses the spending limit. In other words, your posts, comments or videos supporting or opposing a candidate will be treated like donations or campaign independent...

A Florida school board has made a controversial decision to ban the distribution of religious and political material in its schools. The Orange County School Board previously allowed copies of the Bible in their schools, but they decided to reconsider the policy after receiving a request from the Satanic Temple to hand out Satanic coloring books. The board decided that to avoid legal action, it had to ban Bibles and any other religious material from being passed out to students. …

At a “Defeat Jihad Summit” hosted by the Center for Security Policy, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) noted Wednesday that former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who is Mormon, did not travel to New York launch a terrorist attack on “The Book of Mormon."“Right now on Broadway, a play is showing, the Book of Mormon, that is ridiculing and making fun of the Mormon faith," said Cruz. "Last I checked, Mitt Romney didn’t show up on Broadway trying to blow up the stage." (VIDEO-AT-LINK)"It is not a permissible response for anyone of any faith to say if you disagree with or...

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Muslim Day at the Capitol will be held at the end of the month for members of the religion to learn more about state government and become more familiar with their lawmakers. The Oklahoma chapter for the Council on American-Islamic Relations organized the event for the first time this year. News of the event did encounter backlash on social media, however. “It’s kind of depressing to see such hatred and negativity, especially about practicing a right that’s fundamentally American,” said CAIR Executive Director Adam Soltani. Comments were made on social media such as “I’m sick of...

According to the Washington Times, President Barack Obama made statements at the National Prayer Breakfast on February 5, 2015 that establish that Obama has a fundamental misunderstanding of the United States Constitution's First Amendment, which among other things protects freedom of speech. The Times reported:

In a survey of investigative reporters that makes Richard Nixon’s enemies list look like child's play, nearly seven in 10 said they believe that the Obama administration has spied on their phone calls, emails and online searches. According to a Pew Research Center survey of 454 media figures, 64 percent “believe that the U.S. government has probably collected data” from their calls and email and eight in 10 believe just being a journalist jumps the chance Uncle Sam is spying on them. The survey follows multiple reports of actual spying by federal officials on reporters, and the White House’s effort...

Christian Bakers Face Government Wrath For Refusing To Make Cake For Gay Wedding By Todd Starnes February 03, 2015 Aaron and Melissa Klein refused to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple, and now they must pay for their crime. An Oregon administrative law judge ruled on Jan. 29 that the owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa did, in fact, discriminate in 2013 when they declined to provide a wedding cake for a lesbian couple because it would have violated their Christian beliefs against same-sex marriage. The judge’s ruling paves the way for a March 10 hearing at which...

Tracy Martin, father of Trayvon Martin, will speak at Texas Tech’s Black Excellence Gala, according to KFYO. The event is being hosted by the Iota Upsilon Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, to commemorate Black History month. “We are more than excited to bring Tracy Martin to Texas Tech to aid in the efforts of diversity the university is working toward,” said Bobby Akinboro, social chairman of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity in a news release. “We hope this event brings about a revitalization of humanity of all people, no matter race.”

Unusual, not because it’s rare to see an American journalist bowing to Islamic sensibilities on depictions of Mohammed but because typically they don’t go so far as to demand legal limits on their own profession. When the New York Times refuses to run a cartoon goofing on Islam, they don’t want the reason to be government censorship. They prefer to be censored by more sympathetic agents, like violent Muslim radicals.To be precise here, though, DeWayne Wickham, the dean of Morgan State’s J-school, isn’t demanding a “Mohammed exception” to the First Amendment. He’s demanding an exception for all speech that...

A Boston.com associate editor was fired for a story disparaging threats against U.S. House Speaker John Boehner. Victor Paul Alvarez told The Associated Press in an email he was fired Thursday. He said he apologized to his bosses for the “terrible mistake.” A former bartender is charged with threatening to kill Boehner with a gun or by poisoning his drink. Alvarez’s story suggested Boehner had a drinking problem and questioned whether Boehner's “pickled liver could have filtered out the toxins.” …

Received this alert via email today: Begins: Saturday, January 17 2015 at 5:00 PM Location: Curtis Culwell Center Address: 4999 Naaman Forest Blvd Garland, TX 75040 American Freedom Defense Initiative to hold “Stand With Free Speech” demo outside anti-free speech “Stand With the Prophet” conference. Je suis Charlie! NEW YORK, January 13: The human rights advocacy group the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) today announced that it will be holding a demonstration in defense of the freedom of speech on Saturday, January 17 in Garland, Texas, outside a conference on “Islamophobia” that seeks to stifle opposition to jihad terror and...

The double standard laid bare. If you’re a devout believer of whichever faith and eager to see less blasphemy in the media, as many Americans are, there’s no other conclusion to draw here than, “I need to be much, much angrier.” The image of the prophet Mohammed, however, seems to occupy its own category, with its own rules. Last week, Baquet told me via email that as editor of the Times he had to consider “the Muslim family in Brooklyn who read us and is offended by any depiction of what he sees as his prophet.” [sic] When I...