No surrender in the new free-speech wars

No surrender in the new free-speech wars

ACLU loses its path. “For example, the ACLU has been notable by its absence from some of the high-profile disputes over free speech on campus. In response to the Charlottesville controversy, the ACLU issued new criteria for assessing which protests it will defend. These make clear that the ACLU will not recognise the free speech rights of ‘white supremacists’ who are assumed to be intent on violence. As the ACLU national office put it, ‘The First Amendment absolutely does not protect white supremacists seeking to incite or engage in violence’. But as Wendy Kaminer pointed out on spiked, this presumption of what protesters intend to say or do ‘is a prescription for prior restraints on speech, perhaps the most dangerous form of censorship. Speakers are not supposed to be presumed guilty of inciting violence before they’ve even spoken.’ Least of all by the American Civil Liberties Union.”