Florida Is Trying to Take Away the American Right to Speak Freely

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BidenPresident

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The bill is an explicit effort to eviscerate a 1964 Supreme Court decision, The New York Times Company v. Sullivan. This bulwark of First Amendment law requires public figures to prove a news organization engaged in what the court called “actual malice” to win a defamation case. By preventing lawsuits based on unintentional mistakes, the decision freed news organizations to pursue vigorous reporting about public officials without fear of paying damages. The decision has even been applied by lower courts to bloggers and other speakers who make allegations about public figures.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/04/opinion/desantis-florida-free-speech-bill.html
 
A homeowner gets angry at a county commission over a zoning dispute and writes a Facebook post accusing a local buildings official of being in the pocket of developers.

A right-wing broadcaster criticizing border policies accuses the secretary of homeland security of being a traitor.

A parent upset about the removal of a gay-themed book from library shelves goes to a school board meeting and calls the board chair a bigot and a homophobe.

All three are examples of Americans engaging in clamorous but perfectly legal speech about public figures that is broadly protected by the Constitution. The Supreme Court, in a case that dates back nearly 60 years, ruled that even if that speech might be damaging or include errors, it should generally be protected against claims of libel and slander. All three would lose that protection — and be subject to ruinous defamation lawsuits — under a bill that is moving through the Florida House and is based on longstanding goals of Gov. Ron DeSantis.
 
DeSantis. DeSantis. DeSantis.

The NY Slimes is not a news source, it is an advocacy company for the Democrat party.
 
Florida used to be a place where somebody like myself could spend some time and have fun--
partying in the hotels and night clubs,
going to the race track to bet on the ponies or puppies,
playing golf,
going to the spring training baseball games,
getting a bit of sun on the beach or by the pool [although as one of the world's few fair-skinned Sicilians, I had to be careful].

I got to do all of these things...then Florida became our own little North Korea.
 
BidenPresident said:
By preventing lawsuits based on unintentional mistakes, the decision freed news organizations to pursue vigorous reporting about public officials without fear of paying damages. The decision has even been applied by lower courts to bloggers and other speakers who make allegations about public figures.
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Why didnt that principle apply to alex jones?
 
It’s ok, because it comes from Santos! It’s only a violation of free speech is a Democrat does it.
 
BidenPresident said:
The bill is an explicit effort to eviscerate a 1964 Supreme Court decision, The New York Times Company v. Sullivan. This bulwark of First Amendment law requires public figures to prove a news organization engaged in what the court called “actual malice” to win a defamation case. By preventing lawsuits based on unintentional mistakes, the decision freed news organizations to pursue vigorous reporting about public officials without fear of paying damages. The decision has even been applied by lower courts to bloggers and other speakers who make allegations about public figures.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/04/opinion/desantis-florida-free-speech-bill.html
Click to expand...


So, don't live there. No one gives a fuck.
 
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