the Chancellor's Declaration of free
speech here has prompted questions about
hate speech
Cal TV sat down with Dean of
the law school
Erwin Chemerinsky for his take
Hate speech is protected speech under the
First Amendment. There's no distinction
between free speech on the one hand and
hate speech on the other
Chemerinsky said that the Supreme Court has made it
clear that even hateful expression is
protected under the Constitution
So when the Nazis wanted to march in Skokie in the late 1970's and early 1980s and the
town tried to stop them every court
including the Supreme Court said the
Nazis had a right to express their
hateful message. When Richard Spencer the
white supremacist wanted to speak on the
Auburn campus and the university tried
to stop him he sued and got an
injunction protecting his ability to speak
For the Dean there is no exception
in the First Amendment for hate speech
we can certainly have a discussion about
whether hate speech should be protected
for the First Amendment, but under
current law it's clear that hate speech is protected speech
Chemerinsky also made it clear that free speech is not
absolute. Individuals have no rights of
falsely shout fire in a crowded theater,
promote false and deceptive advertising,
or incite illegal activities just to
name a few. He says that it is difficult
to define what hate speech is when
campus adopted hate speech codes.
It's the speech that expresses animus to a
particular group on the basis of race or
sex or religion or sexual orientation
It's speech that tries to vilify a group
based on race, sex, religion, sexual orientation
but none of those definitions
is very precise
When it comes to how UC
Berkeley has handled controversial
speakers he says so far UC Berkeley has
done a superb job in protecting free
speech while upholding safety for the community
Ben Shapiro, Milo Yiannopoulos
came onto campus there was no violence,
no incidents. They got to speak and
everyone's safety was protected
At the same time I know that students across campus who have organized counter
demonstrations. If free speech we could
happen there would be many counter events
I think that's the appropriate response to the speech we don't like
Reporting for kal TV I'm Anna Luc
