Free Republic

Wake Forest University kicked off the fall 2014 semester by instituting a campus-wide online system that has the potential to restrict free speech by allowing students and staff to anonymously file reports on any occurrences they deem biased or hateful. Known as the Bias Incident Report system , the online form does not specify the criteria for filing a report, nor does it explicitly define the word “bias.” Instead, students are pressured to submit a report anytime they believe they are encountering an incident of hate or bias — potentially opening the floodgates for students to report incidents without cause....

As college students hit their campuses and get back to class, many are facing an unprecedented attack on their First Amendment rights to religious freedom and free speech. Just as sure as atheists will sue to remove Nativity scenes at Christmastime, the new school year will no doubt bring many lawsuits on campuses across the country that seek to suppress viewpoints that the university administration holds to be contrary to their own. Many would say that suing to remove something that represents exactly what Christmas stands for is absurd and it is no less ridiculous what is happening at universities...

Keep quiet. That’s the message being sent by New York State Board of Elections, which disregarded the First Amendment to enact new “emergency regulations” on political speech that could become permanent at the end of this month. Intended to regulate spending by independent groups during campaign season, the regulations are so expansive that almost anyone, citizen or organization, hoping to have their say on any issue could find themselves in bureaucratic dire straits. Imagine you hear a radio ad where your state representative — let’s call him Fred — claims to oppose higher taxes. But you know that Fred voted...

Remember when President Obama touted the Affordable Care Act by claiming if you "liked your plan you could keep it"? He earnedPolitifact's 2013 "Lie of the Year" for that whopper. Amazingly, several other Democrats made the same false promise. Knowing what we know now, wouldn't you want to expose any politician who stood behind that misleading statement? Well, if someone uttered those words in the state of New York, you may now be forced to let it slide. A new law in the Empire State, which some are calling the ' shut up rule,' could allow such lofty claims...

AuthorÂ’s Note: Some of the themes discussed in this column were part of a speech I gave at an Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) event in July. The full speech can be viewed by clicking this link. March 18, 2010 was one of the worst days of my life. That was the day Judge Malcolm Howard threw my lawsuit against UNCW out of court. Three years after filing suit and a full eight years after I started to criticize universities, including my own, for violating the First Amendment I lost a bid to go to trial. I also lost all credibility...

The government of the United States is suing the town of St. Anthony, Minnesota, a Twin Cities suburb with a population a little over 8,000, to force the town to allow development of an Islamic center in an area reserved for industrial development. It is a minor news story, but one that sheds light on broader legal and cultural trends. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports: The federal government on Wednesday sued the small north-metro city of St. Anthony, contending that its City Council violated federal law in 2012 by rejecting a proposed Islamic center. … “An injustice has been done,”...

Two New York farmers who hold weddings on their property have been fined after disinviting a gay couple who hoped to tie the knot there. Is this a win for gay rights, or an encroachment on religious liberty? As is only to be expected, a fresh wave of controversy is swirling around a court’s imposition of massive fines on two New York farmers who don’t want a gay couple to get married on their property. In today’s news cycle, where outrage is instinctively deployed as a weapon against our memory, the story of the Giffords (who owned the farm) versus...

This is a real headshaker that should send chills down your spine.Washington Free Beacon: The federal government is spending nearly $1 million to create an online database that will track “misinformation” and hate speech on Twitter. The National Science Foundation is financing the creation of a web service that will monitor “suspicious memes” and what it considers “false and misleading ideas,” with a major focus on political activity online. The “Truthy” database, created by researchers at Indiana University, is designed to “detect political smears, astroturfing, misinformation, and other social pollution.” The university has received $919,917 so far for the project....

Many reject the notion that a good segment of our popular culture and of our political class is at war with Christianity. But this is a real war — not a phony one, such as the left's manufactured "war on women." This hostility toward Christianity is a global phenomenon. Radical Muslims are targeting, persecuting and, in many cases, slaughtering Christians in numerous countries around the world. But I want to talk about a softer form of hostility — though nevertheless of serious concern — that is occurring in the United States. I filled an entire book with examples of discrimination...

Police in Ferguson, MO arrested two journalists for covering the protests over their fatal shooting of an unarmed teenager eight times, including in the back. Officers shoved Wesley Lowery, of the Washington Post, into a soda machine for taping them, before he was cuffed in plastic binds. An officer rammed Ryan Grim’s head against glass. The reporter for the Huffington Post wasn’t packing up his reporting gear quickly enough. Both journalists’ respective papers released statements condemning the Ferguson police, but the decline of free press reaches further than one town in Missouri. Unfortunately state suppression of the press is hardly...

A federal judge says a New Mexico city must remove a monument inscribed with the Ten Commandments from the lawn in front of Bloomfield City Hall. The Daily Times reports that Senior U.S. District Judge James A. Parker issued a ruling Thursday in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, saying the monument constitutes government speech and has the “principal effect of endorsing religion.” …

First Amendment: Government's assault on religious liberty has hit a new low as the IRS settles with atheists by promising to monitor sermons for mentions of the right to life and traditional marriage. A lawsuit filed by the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) asserted that the Internal Revenue Service ignored complaints about churches' violating their tax-exempt status by routinely promoting political issues, legislation and candidates from the pulpit. The FFRF has temporarily withdrawn its suit in return for the IRS's agreement to monitor sermons and homilies for proscribed speech that the foundation believes includes things like condemnation of gay...

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that the 17-foot cross beam salvaged from the wreckage of Twin Towers will remain in the National 9/11 Museum, despite the very best efforts of American Atheists Inc. In “American Atheists v. Port Authority of New Jersey and New York” the group asserted that the artifact's positioning in the museum towered "over any other symbols in the vicinity, expressing Christian primacy." It charged that the Latin cross's dominance violated the First Amendment Establishment Clause and the 14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. The judges found, however, that the...

A newspaper editor who was fired earlier this year for opining on his personal blog that the Queen James Bible is an attempt by homosexuals “to make their sinful nature ‘right with God’” has filed a complaint with the federal government. As previously reported, Bob Eschliman has worked as the editor of the Newton Daily News since 2012, and has served as the publisher of the Clarinda Herald-Journal. But he found himself out of a job this past May when he spoke his mind about the Queen James Bible on his personal blog.

Dear Mr. President, I write to you today as a concerned citizen of our great nation, standing as a witness against your historic actions on the morning of July 21, 2014, actions which I hope you will one day repudiate with deep remorse and regret. I am referring, of course, to your signing an executive order Monday banning “discrimination” by federal contractors against LGBT people, allowing for no religious exemptions of any kind. This was an outrageous act of discrimination against religion in the name of anti-discrimination, an act of bullying people of faith in the name of the prevention...

The first and second amendments of the Bill of Rights are essential for supporting each other.   The first amendment is essential to support the second, while the second amendment provides the means to protect the first.   It is clear that the open carry of firearms is itself a strong political message.   Openly carrying a gun is protected political speech. In Texas, open carry activists have been pushing hard to have the right to open carry modern handguns restored.   It was lost during reconstruction when the carpet bagger government rewrote the state constitution.   Open carry activists have participated in hundreds,...

"Chilling" is the word lawyers use to describe governmental behavior that does not directly interfere with constitutionally protected freedoms, but rather tends to deter folks from exercising them. Classic examples of "chilling" occurred in the 1970s, when FBI agents and U.S. Army soldiers, in business suits with badges displayed or in full uniform, showed up at anti-war rallies and proceeded to photograph and tape record protesters. When an umbrella group of protesters sued the government, the Supreme Court dismissed the case, ruling that the protesters lacked standing -- meaning, because they could not show that they were actually harmed, they...

Ever had problems deciding EXACTLY where in a city park to protest or demonstrate something? Don't worry the Houston Parks Department has your back. For example at Bell Park it's at Latitude 29 degrees 43'46.20" N. Longitude 95 degrees 23'28.47" W

A California school district has refused to apologize to one of its students for previously banning him from mentioning God in his graduation speech, saying instead that it has an "obligation" to prevent sectarian speeches. Brooks Hamby, the salutatorian of Brawley Union High School in Brawley, California, made national headlines back in June when he ignored his school's attempts at censoring God from his graduation speech, instead giving an inspirational, Christian-oriented speech on the importance of standing up for one's beliefs. Now, one month after the controversial speech went viral online, lawyers for the Brawley Union High School District say...

The Heritage Foundation’s annual Scholar’s and Scribes event held on July 8th discussed the Supreme Court’s 2013 – 2014 term. The discussion about the cases focused around women’s health, the First Amendment, and racial discrimination. hobby lobby scotus protest A member of the scholars’ panel, John Malcom, Director of Legal and Judicial Studies at Heritage, remarked that this was an exceptionally good year for conservatives, although the positive results were achieved through narrow victories. The most recent case, Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, was the topic of an in-depth discussion. Due to the political backlash and misreporting about the decision from...