Local rightosphere uber-blog, Sound Politics, linked to this report on Monday
Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund Center for Academic Freedom filed a lawsuit Monday against Community Colleges of Spokane and Spokane Falls Community College officials for violating the constitutional rights of pro-life students. SFCC officials threatened Beth Sheeran and members of a Christian student group with disciplinary measures, including expulsion, if they chose to hold a pro-life event on campus to share information with other students because the message was “discriminatory†and did not include a pro-abortion viewpoint.
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SFCC Director of Student Funded Programs Heather McKenzie rejected Sheeran’s timely request to hold a pro-life event on campus on January 22, the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, that involved flier distribution and materials posted in an announcement display case in the student center. McKenzie said college policy prohibits one-sided events and expressive displays on campus and that the pro-life display would not be allowed because it did not include any pro-abortion viewpoints.
As a member of SFCC’s “Stop the Hate†committee, McKenzie told Sheeran that her “biased†event fell under the program’s jurisdiction because of its “discriminatory†pro-life message and because someone might construe statistics cited in their literature–breaking down abortions by ethnic group–as hate.
SFCC Associate Dean of Student Services and “Stop the Hate†committee chair Gregory Roberts eventually told Sheeran that the group could hold the event if its members voted in favor of it. However, after they did, Roberts, McKenzie, and the group’s faculty advisor, Stormy Kurtz, went to a club meeting and intimidated the students into not holding the event. Kurtz told the students that their flier was “offensive†and that their event violated the district’s “Stop the Hate†policy and Washington law, and the students would face expulsion if they “offended†anyone. Out of fear of disciplinary action, Sheeran and the fellowship never held the event.
The reason for the title of this post stems from this quote from one of Canada’s “Human Rights Commissioners”, Dean Steacy
Freedom of Speech is an American concept, so I don’t give it any value.
And as Insty pointed out, I guess that Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which reads
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless frontiers.
Maybe Dean Steacy and Heather McKenzie don’t think that actual speaking is a form of expression? If that is so, then I would most likely blame the use of paper mache puppetheads by the “protest community” for confusing them.
Or maybe they just don’t like to see, hear or even “feel” speech they don’t like?