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posted by Fnord666 on Thursday February 15 2018, @03:09PM   Printer-friendly
from the the-cost-of-free-speech dept.

From Cleveland.com:

CINCINNATI (AP) -- Kent State University, facing the threat of a lawsuit, reiterated on Friday that it cannot accommodate a request to allow white nationalist Richard Spencer to speak in early May as part of his campus tour.

The university, which is based in Kent but has regional campuses elsewhere in the state, said it had responded to attorney Kyle Bristow reaffirming its earlier response that no suitable space is available for Spencer to speak between April 30 and May 12.

Bristow had told Kent State it had until the end of business Friday to agree to rent space at an "acceptable date and time" or face a lawsuit. Several other schools, including Ohio State University and the University of Cincinnati, are in litigation over Spencer.

Tour organizer Cameron Padgett wanted Spencer to speak at Kent State on the May 4 anniversary of Ohio National Guard shootings that killed four students during anti-war protests in 1970. The university said early May is too busy with activities around the end of the academic year.

Bristow said last year that Spencer planned to speak March 14 on the University of Cincinnati campus, but the university said there was no contract in place, and the two sides are now in a legal standoff over the university's demand for a security fee of nearly $11,000.


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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Thursday February 15 2018, @07:22PM (2 children)

    by DeathMonkey (1380) on Thursday February 15 2018, @07:22PM (#638382) Journal

    The 1st amendment to the US Constitution protects Spencer's right to say absolutely anything,

    Not on my property it doesn't. Speak all you want. You don't get to demand the use of a private venue to do it, though.

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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by melikamp on Thursday February 15 2018, @07:25PM (1 child)

    by melikamp (1886) on Thursday February 15 2018, @07:25PM (#638385) Journal
    That is true, I think, but this discussion pertains to public schools mostly.
    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by DannyB on Thursday February 15 2018, @10:21PM

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Thursday February 15 2018, @10:21PM (#638472) Journal

      That still does not necessarily have to mean that the governing body of a public institution should be required to host any speaker, regardless of cost.

      If such a person is refused, then maybe you or like minded people should host this speaker that you think has so much to contribute to society regardless of cost.

      All persons are free to speak. Nobody should be forced to listen, nor even forced to provide a venue for them to speak -- including the government.

      The government cannot stop him from speaking. (but in fact government does take notice of certain kinds of speech!) But the government does not have to pay the bill for him to speak. (eg, other taxpayers do not have to pay for his ability to speak)

      There is a difference from STOPPING someone from speaking and declining to provide a venue for them to speak.

      Anyone can speak. And if their ideas are so great, there will hoardes of InfoWars, FoxNews, etc to provide them a megaphone.

      --
      People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.