Tag Archives: Free Speech

Let’s Talk About Oklahoma and Free Speech

Posted on March 11, 2015 by Tom Garrett

With the news that University of Oklahoma President David Boren would be expelling two members of the SAE fraternity for singing a racial-slur-laden song, there has been an expected uptick in First Amendment experts in the comments sections of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, General Culture and News, Politics | Tagged Commentary, Eugene Volokh, Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, Free Speech, Freedom of Speech, Frons Profundus, General Culture and News, Oklahoma, Politics, The FIRE, The First Amendment, University of Oklahoma | 1 Comment

Best of 2014

Posted on December 31, 2014 by Tom Garrett

A new job and shifting responsibilities caused my blog-related productivity to slip a bit. Overall, I published “only” 41 pieces in 2014, including this one. But, that’s life. This blog was always intended to be both an outlet for things … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, General Culture and News, Site Stuff | Tagged Adam Silver, Best Of, Bullying, Domestic Violence, Ernie Kovacs, Free Speech, NBA, NFL, Ray Rice, Redskins, Roger Goodell, Stephen Colbert, Student Loans, The First Amendment, The Miz, Washington Redskins, WWE | Leave a comment

Fun with Offensive Trademarks

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Tom Garrett

For no particular reason whatsoever, I thought it might be worthwhile to take some time to poke around the USPTO database. I wanted to see what potentially “disparaging,” “immoral,” or “scandalous” trademarks and service marks are still live in 2014. Here’s a … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Politics, Sports | Tagged Commentary, Free Speech, Intellectual Property, Offensiveness, Oneida, Politics, Racism?, Redskins, Sports, The First Amendment, Trademark, Washington Redskins | 11 Comments

A “Free Speech” Misconception

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Tom Garrett

If there’s an upside to having to listen to national arguments about “offensive” ideas on a weekly basis, it’s this: The increasing frequency of those debates has highlighted a misguided point repeatedly made about “free speech.” The argument normally follows these … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, General Culture and News, Politics | Tagged Adam Carolla, Commentary, Free Speech, Freedom of Speech, General Culture and News, Leslie Jones, Patton Oswalt, Politics, Stephen Colbert, The First Amendment | 4 Comments

Anti-Bullying / Anti-Free-Speech Redux

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Tom Garrett

I wrote a piece last August arguing that new anti-bullying laws would inevitably lead to the enforcement of such provisions butting up against First Amendment rights. In it, I wrote: Several potential problems with the policy became clear rather quickly. … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, General Culture and News | Tagged Commentary, Education, Free Speech, General Culture and News, Hartsville High School, HSConfessionsSC, The First Amendment | 1 Comment

Best of 2013

Posted on December 30, 2013 by Tom Garrett

I wasn’t quite as prolific in 2013 as I was in 2012, as this will be “only” the 72nd post on this blog this year. However, part of that had to do with the fact that I’ve been writing for … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, General Culture and News, Site Stuff | Tagged 2013, Antonin Scalia, Best Of, Bullying, Commentary, Free Speech, General Culture and News, Improvised Shakespeare Company, Mark Henry, Offensiveness, Patrick Stewart, Professional Wrestling, Site Stuff, Washington Redskins, WWE | Leave a comment

“Redskins” Round-Up

Posted on October 18, 2013 by Tom Garrett

I’ve talked before about how I enjoy writing for a bunch of different outlets, because doing so allows me to write about such varying topics. One of the things that burned me out on being full-time at VirginiaPreps was writing … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, General Culture and News, Podcasts, Politics, Sports | Tagged Commentary, Free Speech, General Culture and News, Grand Theft Auto, Grand Theft Auto V, Mike Heller, Podcasts, Politics, Racism?, Redskins, Sports, The Mike Heller Show, Washington Redskins | 4 Comments

Anti-Bullying Intent, Anti-Free-Speech Result?

Posted on August 13, 2013 by Tom Garrett

Last week, over at A New Voice, I tackled the inevitable collision of anti-bullying efforts and the free speech rights of students. An expanded version of that piece is below: A broad new social media policy recently implemented by California’s Lodi Unified … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, General Culture and News | Tagged Bullying, Commentary, Constitutional Law, Education, En Loco Parentis, Free Speech, Freedom of Speech, General Culture and News, Lodi Unified School District, Stockton, The First Amendment, Tinker v. Des Moines | 1 Comment

About That Onion Tweet

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Tom Garrett

I hadn’t planned on writing about this (I have a couple of podcasts that need editing and that will go up later this week), but two people have already asked me about this story. So, here goes. I don’t think … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, General Culture and News, Movies, Politics | Tagged Comedy, Commentary, Free Speech, Movies, Offensiveness, Politics, Quvenzhane Wallis, The Onion, The Oscars | 7 Comments

Saving Our Skins

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Tom Garrett

I didn’t think much of it one way or the other when Harrison Weinhold brought up the Washington Redskins’ nickname during the podcast we recorded over a week ago. The conversation meandered from weighty issue to weighty issue, and the … Continue reading →