Four New York politicians propose eliminating First Amendment, turning 'free speech' into a government-granted privilege

Wednesday, October 12, 2011 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
Tags: Free Speech, censorship, health news

(NaturalNews) A proposal put forth by four members of the New York State (NYS) Senate have surely caused the Founding Fathers of the US to roll over in their graves. Hinged upon the stated goal of protecting children against "cyberbullying," NYS Senators Jeff Klein (D-Bronx/Westchester), Diane Savino (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn), David Carlucci (D-Rockland/Orange), and David Valesky (D-Oneida) have proposed the passage of a ridiculous new bill that will essentially criminalize free speech.

Contained in their paper entitled Cyberbullying: A Report on Bullying in a Digital Age, the four Senators explain in lengthy detail their concerns about children being bullied by their peers, as well as why they believe legislation is needed to deal with the problem.

But some of the behavior described in the report as cyberbullying is already considered a crime, including stalking a person online and stealing his or her identity. And many of the other examples are so vague and arbitrary that practically everyone could be accused of cyberbullying for simply sharing their thoughts and opinions online.

A few examples include "leaving improper messages on online message boards" and posting "intimidating messages." Who will be deciding what is considered improper or intimidating? Such activity, if declared to be illegal, will make every New Yorker who participates in online conversations a potential criminal.

At the conclusion of the report, the quartet actually asserts that the government must actively restrict free speech as a solution to cyberbullying. In the section addressing freedom of speech issues, the Senators had this to say in defense of their bill: "Proponents of a more refined First Amendment argue that this freedom should be treated not as a right but as a privilege -- a special entitlement granted by the state on a conditional basis that can be revoked if it is ever abused or maltreated."

This statement, by definition, is the exact opposite of the First Amendment. As a recent article in techdirt puts it, such a prospect is actually "anti-First Amendment," and anything but "refined," because it completely eliminates free speech altogether and puts the government in control of what people can and cannot say.

You can read the entire shocking report for yourself at the following link:
http://www.nysenate.gov/files/pdfs/final%20c...

You can also contact each of the Senators involved in creating it and proposing the corresponding legislation:

Jeff Klein (D-Bronx/Westchester)
Tel: 518.455.3595
Email: [email protected]

Diane Savino (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn)
Tel: 518.455.2437
Email: [email protected]

David Carlucci (D-Rockland/Orange)
Tel: 518.455.2991
Email: [email protected]

David Valesky (D-Oneida)
Tel: 518.455.2838
Email: [email protected]

Sources for this article include:

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111001/00...