<![CDATA[free-speech - Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo]]> https://www.bruzzolaw.com/blog/tags/free-speech/ Tue, 15 Oct 2024 00:45:39 GMT en-us <![CDATA[Irvine 11 are Charged by Orange County District Attorney]]> https://www.bruzzolaw.com/blog/irvine-11-are-charged-by-orange-county-district-attorney/ https://www.bruzzolaw.com/blog/irvine-11-are-charged-by-orange-county-district-attorney/ Wed, 16 Feb 2011 21:17:00 GMT Last year 11 students were detained by authorities after disrupting a speech by the Ambassador from Israel, Ambassador Oren, at the University of California, Irvine. These students, since referred to as the Irvine 11, have now been formally charged with the crime of disturbing the peace. The eleven students, some of whom attended the University of…

]]> Last year 11 students were detained by authorities after disrupting a speech by the Ambassador from Israel, Ambassador Oren, at the University of California, Irvine. These students, since referred to as the Irvine 11, have now been formally charged with the crime of disturbing the peace. The eleven students, some of whom attended the University of California at Irvine and others the University of California at Riverside, disrupted the Ambassador’s speech shouting anti-Israel messages or pro-Palestine messages. The Orange County District Attorney’s office deliberated over whether to charge them because of the free speech issues and probably also because a judicial prosecution will set a showdown for free speech issues. While Free Speech is a cornerstone of American Democracy it does not permit another individual to “shout down” another. Also, through precedent the United States Supreme Court has laid out certain time and place restrictions that limit free speech, mainly for practical reasons. For example, holding a noisy demonstration in the middle of the night in a sleepy town might cause a court to legally restrict such a demonstration despite the Free Speech argument.

So while the Orange County District Attorney’s decision to charge the Irvine 11 is controversial it appears to be supported by the law in this area and not an infringement of the 1st Amendment right to Free Speech. See, Penal Code Sections 415, 415.5, 416.

]]> <![CDATA[Constitutional or Discourteous?]]> https://www.bruzzolaw.com/blog/constitutional-or-discourteous/ https://www.bruzzolaw.com/blog/constitutional-or-discourteous/ Thu, 25 Feb 2010 04:04:00 GMT Last week Michael Oren gave a speech at University of California, Irvine in Orange County, California, describing the issues he faced as Israeli ambassador. His speech was interrupted multiple times from members of the audience that did not agree with him. A video posted online showed the interruptions occurring roughly every ten minutes. Professor Petracca…

]]> Last week Michael Oren gave a speech at University of California, Irvine in Orange County, California, describing the issues he faced as Israeli ambassador. His speech was interrupted multiple times from members of the audience that did not agree with him. A video posted online showed the interruptions occurring roughly every ten minutes. Professor Petracca of the Political Science department expresses his impatience with the outbursts and called out “Shame on you!” when he took the podium to control the ruckus caused by the interruptions. He told the audience that this behavior is not appropriate for University of California students. The spirit of the event as explained by Professor Petracca and Chancellor Drake was to provide a forum for an exchange of ideas and discussion on the Middle East situation. They said that a better way for the UCI Muslim Student Union (the group expressing their dissatisfaction with the speaker) to express their disagreement would be by presenting the ambassador with questions at the end of his talk. University officials were likely embarrassed by the students’ conduct. The MSU has put on its share of displays on campus denouncing Israeli occupation and their tactics and the tolls it takes on the Palestinian community. Indubitably the University would have preferred picketing outside the speaking venue. Yet it’s important to remember that a marginalized group may feel that working within the accepted modes of expression is not effective. The outbursts managed to successfully interrupt Oren from talking, but did not communicate any counter point. Some people present complained that UCI should have taken better measures to control the crowd and that the outbursts made UCI look bad. Notably, as soon as a person yelled out they were escorted out of the auditorium. The position that UCI takes on the incident is that expression is permitted within certain limits dictated by place and time. It is unclear if the students will be charged criminally. If they are they can be charged with disturbing the peace under Penal Code section 415 (2); this penal code section prohibits using “loud and unreasonable” noise. Despite the strong protection of Free Speech in the U.S. Constitution it does appear that the manner in which the students sought to protest the ambassador fell outside the protection of the constitution.

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