[ThisLittleLightofMine]

I think the kid was clearly a racist but I also believe they are violating his free speech rights. Any thoughts?

[YOUGOTIT]

This is violation of the Constitution and the right to free speech. But then the left wing anti-Americans could care less about the Constitution.

[Islander7]

I think the kid was clearly a racist but I also believe they are violating his free speech rights. Any thoughts?

"Basically, they said, 'If you fight it down here, win lose or draw, we'll charge in federal court."

So the US attorney told the kid, if you fight the charges in state court and win, you will be charged in federal court. Isn't this double jeopardy?

It smacks of a threat at the very least!!

[ontap]

More hate speech BS. There was a time when elected officials just assumed some people would not like them and rolled with the punch. Now they have to have their day in court, ridiculas.

[Tzimisce]

[Lorianne]

I’m not sure if its a violation of his free speech.
He has a right to say those things, but he is a miserable little coward for not saying them openly, for all to see.

For example, he could have written those comments on a sign and protested at the City Hall. Or written a letter to the editor and signed his name.

[Dionysius]

I cannot label them racist because I have not (and will probably never have) the opportunity to read them. The Constitutionality of the prosecution can be argued, but I feel it was faulty. What I can say with absolute assurance is that this places us on a slippery slope, which could land us in the Inquisition-style European legal cesspool where the mere expression of dissent to a minority position with words deemed angry or inappropriate can send one to the docks.

[Old Professer]

How can you so quickly call him a racist without ever having read the e-mails?

[Sloth]

Unless he was making threats/false reports/etc., or sending so much as to disrupt operations, the state has no business charging him with a crime.

[JoeDetweiler]

According to this source there was only one e-mail:

“As you know, there is a nigger on our city council named Paul Zandamela. Our city government must be corrupt to have this porch monkey as an elected official. According to our year 2000 census, coons only make up .49% of our population, and I know I would never vote for one of those spooks. I don’t see how a person who is different from 99.51% of our population can properly make decisions for us.

Sincerely,

Nigger Hater”

http://www.zimbio.com/member/Onelove/articles/1282246/Christopher+Reinhold+Son+Deputy+Mayor+Battle

[JoeDetweiler]

Some commentary from The Volokh Conspiracy a year ago:

“Traditional telephone harassment laws — for instance, ones that ban calls (sometimes limited to anonymous calls and sometimes not) that are intended “to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass any person at the called number” — are generally thought to be constitutional.............”

http://volokh.com/posts/1209665198.shtml