Muzzles Award Winners
Time and time again, our oh-so-lovely government tries to overstep their boundaries and make people suffer because they don’t like what they hear. But, thanks to our intelligent and visionary founding Fathers, we have rights such as the 1st amendment. I can say pretty much whatever I want except for a few simple things without getting in trouble. But, that doesn’t mean that our government doesn’t try!
The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression (TJCPFE) has put together a list of ten attempts at government trying to go against the first amendment. These are known as Jefferson Muzzles. Here’s your list.
Alan Grayson
Alan Grayson is a Democratic United States Representative from Florida. He has opposition as is expected. But, because he doesn’t want to lose his power fulfilling job, he’s done something that is not unique to politicians. He’s trying to shut people up.
Angie Langley, a Republican activist, created a website called MyCongressmanIsNuts. This is to parody Grayson’s site congressmanwithguts.com. Langley’s site focuses attention on Grayson, how he needs to be removed and raises funds to try and make that happen. Whether you love or hate Grayson, Langley created a site and used her 1st amendment right to say what she wanted.
Grayson didn’t see it that way. He felt because she was not in his district and didn’t talk bad about any other candidate, that she was breaking the law. So, she wanted the Attorney General to put her in jail for five years and fine her.
On what grounds?!
I think Nancy Pelosi is a clown and often times, she looks like one too. Because I don’t live in California, I can’t say that? Ridiculous. Mr. Grayson, you lose. Muzzle him!
Alabama Alcohol Beverage Control Board
We all like our alcohol. There’s no denying that. But, what I don’t like is when the government tries to say I can’t enjoy a bottle of wine because there is a naked woman on the cover of it. And it’s not even like it was a naked woman in a pornographic sense. No, it was a 19th century nymph. Art, people!
Anyway…The Alabama Alcohol Beverage Control Board (ACBCB) decided that the image used to advertise the Cycles Gladiator group in the 1890s was explicit and not right to be seen. Therefore, when the new wine company decided to use the image and applied to sell their wine in Alabama, the ACBCB said, “No.”
Where’s their right? The U.S. Supreme Court specifically said that pieces of art, even if naked, cannot be considered obscene. Therefore, where do they have the right to come in and say, “You can’t sell your wine because it shows nudity.” Oh, right…They don’t.
So, because of their attempts at imposing their opinions on others, they get the award. Muzzle them!
James A. Balcer
For whatever reason, people have this problem with allowing people to express themselves artistically. James A. Balcer is an Alderman for Chicago. When he happened across a mural painted on the building in south central’s Chicago Bridgeport neighborhood, he got mad. The mural depicted three police cameras, one with a crucified Christ, a deer head, and a human skull.
What does Balcer do? You bet…He had it painted. At first, he said it was because the man didn’t get a permit to paint. But, when digging deeper, it is easy to see that there is no permit necessary. In other words, Balcer got rid of it, and admitted to it, because he didn’t like it.
Where’s his right? Because he doesn’t like something that was painted, he can just come over and have it removed? He has no right. In an attempt to silence the voices of people whether through art or word, Balcer has demonstrated he has no respect for the 1st amendment. Muzzle him!
Oklahoma Tax Commission
Vanity plates are a great way of expressing oneself while driving their car. For example, I could get a license plate that said “Libertas.” But, what happens when the Motor Vehicle Division of the Oklahoma Tax Commission doesn’t like what you want to put? They deny you. On what grounds? They don’t allow explicit vanity plates.
The vanity plate that someone wanted to get was “IM GAY”. The individual was denied because it was deemed offensive. Apparently license plates such as “STR8FAN” and “STR8SEXI” are acceptable. In other words, the commission denied him because he was putting the word gay on his car. If he had put “IM STR8” he’d have been fine.
Even after he appealed it, they turned him down. If the commission is going to allow people to get plates such as “STR8FAN,” they must allow a plate such as “IM GAY.” Otherwise, they should get rid of their vanity program. Muzzle them!
The Las Vegas Police Department
The low down on this muzzle award is that the LVPD is trying to prevent people from dressing up as Elvis to sing on the streets. Their reasoning is that it is bothering the hotels and casinos. Last I checked, the police were there to protect the interests of the people, not just the hotels and casinos.
What they are trying to do in their attempts at shutting them up is get rid of a person’s expression. Now, if these people were singing in the casinos, that’d be one thing. But, since the sidewalks are considered “public forum,” it isn’t right for the police to be harassing these Elvis impersonators simply because the hotels dislike them.
With the Nevada ACLU filing a law suit, hopefully the LVPD will rethink their attempts at silencing our right to express ourselves anyway we want. Muzzle them!
The Texas State Legislature
Texas wanted to have more films made in Texas. Therefore, they offered a 15% tax rebate to studios that filmed in Texas in hopes of getting more. However, what they then did was create a rule that the only way this rebate could be received is if the film of choice depicted Texans and Texas in a positive fashion. If there was any negative fashion, they’d lose out on the rebate.
Uhh…Talk about hardcore bias. There is no movie that can depict Texas as entirely good. More importantly, there is no way that every single fact can be perfect. It is an entertainment movie after all. Yet, Texas denied the rebate for an upcoming movie Waco because the facts weren’t all true. That’s crazy.
This is just a stupid example of Texas getting too involved in things. If they want to offer this rebate, they can’t be picky about the content. Muzzle them!
The West Fargo School Board and Principle S.K. Johnson
These are two separate examples of schools not likely content being published in the school’s newspapers. At West Fargo, an individual was fired because the board did not approve with the content in the newspaper. Despite the fact that parents across the district all said he should be rehired again, the West Fargo group hired another advisor and closed the case.
Principle Johnson of California stopped the distribution of the school literary magazine for the same reason. He felt that the magazine romanticized tattoos and gangs which it obviously doesn’t. The real reason for it being pulled was an article titled “Ten Things to Do Before Graduation” that included skipping class and swimming in the pool, clothing optional.
Rather than allowing students their constitutional right to express themselves, these schools infringed on that right. It’s called Freedom of the Press for a reason. Muzzle them!
The Administration of Southwestern College
College costs are going up all the time. In an effort to try and keep costs level, students and faculty were protesting on the “Free Speech Patio” at Southwestern College. But, because they weren’t getting enough exposure, they walked toward the courtyard. Police officers stopped them saying they weren’t allowed to demonstrate that. Peacefully.
Despite the fact people have protested this, the Southwestern College has continued to make it unacceptable to protest anywhere other than the free-speech patio. The problem is, so long as the peaceful protests aren’t disturbing college activities—which their demonstration obviously wasn’t—Federal law ensures a person can protest anywhere.
Southwestern College is directly going against the 1st amendment. For that, they deserve to be punished. Muzzle them!
The Virginia Department of Corrections
One inmate, Kyle Mabe, wanted to have a CD called Life Without a Cross. It is a CD that has sermons on it. He was denied because the only types of CDs that are allowed are ones with music, but not sermons. In other words, an individual can listen to music, but cannot listen to anything religious.
A lawsuit was filed against the Department of Corrections because this policy went against the 1st amendment Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Religion. While the prisons have a right to prevent information from getting in that could be harmful, this is a blatant example of the prisons abusing their power.
Fortunately, they changed their policies. But, as the TJCPFE said, the muzzle is as a warning. Don’t take away our rights.
The Puerto Rico Department of Education
The final example is a case of book banning. This is a simple one. The books were banned because the language was “coarse.” The problem is, they banned these books because they read passages without taking them into context. While the content is intense, that doesn’t mean that the books can be banned. They were in the curriculum for 11th graders (16-17 year olds). These are individuals who witness far worse language in regular life.
Because of their attempt at removing books because they weren’t “crystal clean,” the Puerto Rico Department of Education gets muzzled. It’s important to take things in context rather than just reading passages of the book.
In other words…
Our Constitution protects us! It is ridiculous for the government, whether in Puerto Rico or in Chicago, to try and limit our Freedom to Speech, Religion, Press and Expression. That is our right. Our right is to express ourselves in the way that we choose to. They have no right to come in and try and prevent us from doing that. If they do…
Muzzle them!
