Utahns protest the actions of Donald Trump and Elon Musk outside the Utah State Capitol. Photo by Mike Newbry on Unsplash.
Roseville League of Women Voters presented its latest forum at Maplewood Library
by Monica Gallagher — Volunteer Contributor
A live audience of over 50 attended the League of Women Voter’s latest moderated panel at the Maplewood Library on Sunday. This time around: a free discussion on freedom of speech.
Susan Johnson of the League of Women Voters, an attorney, served as moderator. Guests were Maura Weyandt, Associate Superintendent of Roseville Schools; Charlie Weaver of the Minnesota Daily and Metro Nonprofit News Network; and Teresa Nelson, attorney, of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
Johnson posed a series of questions, many submitted by the audience, during the 90-minute event. She began by reading the First Amendment aloud, then asked for the panelists’ thoughts on the First Amendment in present times.
In pursuit of the truth
Weaver expressed concern about the importance of information challenges and the need for change from the bottom up. He commented that we have lost many smaller publications in recent years, and therefore “we need to work hard to flip the model back [to local news access].”
In response to the same prompt, Nelson said, “The First Amendment is foundational to government transparency, protest and community consensus. The ACLU fights for [these principles] every day.”
Asked whether there is a requirement to speak the truth, Nelson said that the Supreme Court has never held false speech in and of itself as unprotected. On the other hand, obscenity and true threats are not upheld as free speech.
“The founders tried to give breathing space for the First Amendment for full, robust debate,” she said.
Weaver said journalists’ credibility is based on truth, but that the media business model has evolved towards getting attention.
“We shouldn’t be generating opinions for our communities…there are enough platforms for opinions now,” he said.
Wyandt, a former kindergarten teacher, said that learning fact vs. opinion can start early on. She said that there are often multiple versions of the truth to consider, as well as why certain narratives are absent.
“‘Alternative fact’ is an oxymoron,” Weaver added. “There are so many people who have agendas to pull us away from basic truth.”
Nelson added, “The reason we protect free speech and public debate is to pursue the truth.”
Resisting hate with free speech
Johnson referenced the title of a book, “Hate: Why We Should Resist It With Free Speech, not Censorship” by Nadine Strossen when she asked, “When and how can hate speech be regulated?”
Nelson said that the First Amendment protects hate speech, and that “you have to have the least restrictive method of regulation.” For example, school environments need to be safe, so hate speech can be regulated toward that end. She also cited court cases that limited hate speech because it was deemed to be a true threat or harassment, such as burning a cross in someone’s yard.
Wyandt said that students have free speech until it becomes disruptive to learning. Asked what students are not allowed to wear at school, Johnson listed things including the Confederate flag, swastikas and profanity. She said in order to make decisions about which items are banned, she listens to multiple perspectives, including the school board, community and the district’s mission and vision.
‘The raptors are testing the fences’
Weaver discussed current threats faced by journalists, including Don Lemon and other Minnesota journalists recently charged in federal court.
“There used to be a sense of safety from the First Amendment, before Operation Metro Surge,” he said.
“The raptors are testing the fences,” Weaver said, referencing the movie “Jurassic Park.” “I’ve said ‘I don’t know’ more in the past 30 days than I’ve said my entire career. At the end of the day, we [journalists] are willing to go to jail right now.”
Other discussion topics included the intersection of big business, media corporations and government; the differences between media and journalism; the federal government gathering protesters’ information; public school students’ right to protest and more.
‘Document, document, document.’
Johnson closed with the question, “How can the community support your work right now?”
Weyandt celebrated the community presence at vulnerable bus stops during Operation Metro Surge. She encouraged the community to “Thank a teacher…our teachers’ hearts are broken.”
She suggested donations to Do Good Roseville, Roseville Area Schools Foundation and mutual aid funds in general.
“Document, document, document, and pass it on to a journalist if you need to,” Weaver said. “We can’t be everywhere, and it’s inspiring to see the community step up.”
After acknowledging the many basic needs for support in the community right now, he added, “Consider supporting community journalism.”
Nelson encouraged citizen reporting of rights violations to the ACLU at aclu-mn.org. She said the local ACLU chapter has received over 700 such reports the past six weeks, compared to 1200 such reports in a typical year.
“We can’t assert people’s rights if we don’t know and can’t document,” she said. ”We are writing a playbook that will be needed by other states…conscientious objection works.”
Moderator Johnson concluded the event by reminding the audience, “Freedom of speech is not free.”
The Civics 101 event is available to watch on YouTube. The next event in the series, about Election Security, will be March 24 at the Roseville Library. A Zoom link will also be available.
