student Jackson 5 suspended

dov,

I'm not famaliar with this story at all but this could easily fit right into the "Legal' forum as opposed to "Reference". If you'd like I'll move it. Say the word!

In the mean time let me see if I can find anything on the story...

Legal might be good....I heard about this story, and thought it a bit ridiculous, really. What I found more ridiculous was Spike Lee's 'Bamboozled' and his lawsuit against 'Spike TV', which appears to be settled, that pretentious bastard...

Mr. Fishin', If you need my okey-doekey to move this, then go ahead. Sometimes I don't know where to put things.

OK, it's moved. I like to ask people before I just up and move things. No need to ruffle feathers unnecessarily.

Do you have any links for the story you lead of with? I found a few from a year or two ago about complaints over college kids putting on blackface for Halloween but no mention of the Jackson 5 or anything recent.

I could well imagine in a case such as this a judge saying to the prosecution, "what the hell is this doing in my courtroom? Haven't any of you people heard of the 1st Amendment? If it offends anyone, then boo-hoo. Get over it". I don't suppose judges talk like that though unfortunately.

My aunt does, on occasion Judges aren't subject to client privilege, so she has told some stories about just getting fed up with stupid cases, and telling the participants where to go, in the nicest possible legalese, of course.

When is someone going to tell dov that this has nothing to do with free speech except as a concept.

I think you just did.

I've been waiting to see if it even happened. Any links, dov?

http://dailybeacon.utk.edu/article.php/7844

That link is almost 10 months old Cav! I was hoping there was some new story.

I found the UT and the Auburn stories on the WWW but in all of those cases the students were re-instated and no disciplinary action was taken. I haven't seen one yet where the students were actually punished in any way. In the UT case the school told the black fratenity (they inititated the complaints) that the free speech rights of the students that donned the black-face over-rode their right not to be offended.

Fishin', Are you actually telling me that black students have a right NOT to be offended? Where in the Constitution does it say that?

fishin, yep, old link, and it does seem that the issue has been buried. Hmm...

Dov when you asked by PM I tried to explain it to you but apparently that didn't work.

Contitutional rights do not translate into every aspect of life.

Free Speech doesn't mean moms can't spank their kids if they scream vulgarities at their parents.

Free Speech does not mean you can say what you want in high school.

Etc etc.

I happen to think the punishment a bit ridiculous but this has nothing to do with the constitution.

Tell me.. What is the basis of the Constitution? Is it not law? In fact, it is the SUPREME law in the US and the basis for all other laws in the US.

What do we do when someone OFFENDS one of those laws? Do we not arrest them, confine them, bring them to trial and, very possibly, imprison them?

The entire concept of law is based on the idea that the accused has offended the rules society has laid out and that sociecty has the right to seek retribution and/or compensation for those offenses.

If the collective "we" have a right to imprison people for offending society as a whole, a pretty strong argument could be made that there is an equeal individual right not to be offended. In fact as a part of our system of laws we do have laws protect people from being offended. We have laws against defamation of character and slander for example. Civil law is rife with other protections at the individual level.

The Constitution is not the final arbitrator of what is or isn't a right. The Constuitution is a document that lists several rights that are protected but it is not, and never has been, all-inclusive. I think you'd have a hard time pressing the idea that no one has any right to not be offended.