By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
George Washington University law professor and legal analyst Jonathan Turley headlines the 28th annual R. Dan Boulware Convocation on Critical Issues Tuesday on the Missouri Western State University campus in St. Joseph.
Turley’s address is entitled “The Rise and Fall of Free Speech,” arguing that too many people in the United States now assert that free speech is a threat. Turley says that concept has been imported from Europe and is counter to America’s approach to speech.
“Free speech as a value is in our blood stream. It’s in our DNA as a people,” Turley tells host Barry Birr on the KFEQ Hotline. “If we allow the United States to go the way of Europe, it’s going to fundamentally change who we are.”
Turley suggest the recent move to criminalize certain types of speech has been imported from Europe, where hate crime laws have moved against speech deemed to provoke violence against certain peoples.
Turley notes Europe doesn’t benefit from First Amendment protections of free speech. He adds that the First Amendment merely outlines what America has traditionally held dear: the right to speak your mind, even if it offends some.
Turley says the US, unlike Europe, protects all speech, even that considered offensive.
“We may agree that these statements or comments are offensive, but in the United States, we’ve always treated them as protected, because we all benefit from protecting free speech,” according to Turley.
Turley, who teaches law at George Washington University and serves as a legal analyst for Fox News, sees too many assaults on free speech, especially on college campuses, often when activists tag the speech as hate speech. Turley says recent moves by the “cancel culture” have intimidated many into silence.
“Free speech requires bright lines,” Turley says. “If there’s doubt, it creates what the Supreme Court calls a chilling effect that if you don’t know whether your speech can be subject to criminalization, whether you can be subject to arrest, then you just stop speaking.”
Turley’s address begins at 10am Tuesday at the M.O. Looney Complex Arena. It is free and open to the public.
Turley will participate in a question-and-answer session at noon in the Fulkerson Center. The cost is $50 per person. For more information, click HERE.