Posted on 05/20/2010 6:58:53 PM PDT by SmithL
SAN FRANCISCO -- College officials in Arizona were under no obligation to punish a professor who sent e-mails to fellow employees in 2003 denouncing a Latino celebration as racist, complaining about "multicultural stupor" and proclaiming the "superiority of Western civilization," a federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled Thursday.
The messages from Walter Kehowski, a math professor at Glendale Community College near Phoenix, were constitutionally protected free speech and did not constitute harassment of Latino employees who received them, said the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
"The government may not silence speech because the ideas it promotes are thought to be offensive," Chief Judge Alex Kozinski said in the 3-0 ruling. The panel also included retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, sitting by temporary assignment.
The court overturned a judge's decision that would have allowed a jury to decide whether the Maricopa Community College District, Kehowski's employer, violated Latino employees' right to be free of discrimination and harassment by refusing to fire or discipline the professor.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
WOW, just WOW ... the times surely are a changin'
“right to be free of discrimination and harassment”
Where does that come from?
” “The government may not silence speech because the ideas it promotes are thought to be offensive,” Chief Judge Alex Kozinski said in the 3-0 ruling. “
Who are you?? And what have you done with the REAL 9th Circus??
The 9th gets one right.
Dammmmnnn! Is Rod Serling back from the dead?
It’s sad that it had to go that far.
Why is it that the left can call people racists all day but when you rightly call a minority a racist its “racially charged” all of a sudden?
Remember that if they call you a racist, its harassment.
got it.
too true
#1. Everybody gets something right once in a while.
However, this is a nice “once in a while.”
It's between the abortion rights provision and the right to free health care.
Madison wrote it in very small print and it wasn't discovered until around 1967 or so.
It may be sad that “it had to go that far” but this decision bitchslaps lower courts in their attempts to silence free speech, no matter how obnoxious it may be.
This protects us all.
Where does that come from?
I just did a text search of the constitution and for some reason I can't find it. Must be in the penumbras there with the right to abortion.
superiority of Western civilization
well...I agree with him.
“This protects us all.”
Not necessarily, Just because one Circuit makes a ruling does not mean that all other circuits immediately implement that change.
As we have seen in Heller, There will have to be years of Suites in separate Jurisdictions to ever settle the Issue.
As long as a Municipality wants to spend money on Lawyers they can Prolong Bad behaviour even with “precedents” that apply.
And Yes, I understand the Issues about DC being a Federal District and Not a State.
Still it will be necessary to Sue in Chicago and California as well as many other places.
Atypically good common sense from the Ninth Circus Court......
3-0? Well, it’s time for the entire circuit to sit en banc to set these 3 losers straight.
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