First Amendment

Voices of Vermont: Public Safety, the First Amendment, and the Death Penalty 09/26/2024

From Eric Agnero:

Welcome back to another episode of Voices of Vermont, where we engage with pressing local and national issues that impact our community. I’m your host, Eric Agnero, and today we have a powerhouse panel. Joining me are Sandy Baird, community lawyer and activist, Kim Fisk, long-time Burlington advocate, and Steve Goodkind, former Public Works Director and civic leader.

In this episode, they discucss public safety in Burlington and the homeless epidemic, the First Amendment at stake - UVM vs. Students for Palestine, and the death penalty - execution in Missouri despite doubts.

Conversation about Free Speech with Sandy Baird and Marina Brown 10/11/2023

Host Meghan O'Rourke chats with guests Sandy Baird and Marina Brown about free speech, how it's defined in the modern day, and its relationship with hate speech and violence.

VICII: Free Speech v. Government Ministry of Truth 05/04/2022

From VICII:

As Billionaire Elon Musk buys Twitter, he argues that his actions are in response to the policies of the media giant which decided what was "disinformation" or "misinformation" and eliminated those voices and information from its platforms. Musk promises a return to the American principles of the First Amendment guarantees of free speech.

Immediately, President Biden created within the Department of Homeland Security a Disinformation Governance Board under the Direction of Nina Jankowicz, a self-described expert on disinformation and a self-described truth teller.

We discuss and debate these actions of Elon Musk and President Biden and the future of free speech in our country: are we facing a return to the Free Speech guarantees of the Constitution, or are we facing an Orwellian new world where Government defines what is truth, and decides how Americans think and say that "truth?"

For more information: vicii.org

The People's Law School: Understanding Your First Amendment Rights 07/21/2021

What does “freedom of speech” really mean? Join Professor Peter Teachout of Vermont Law School, Lia Ernst of the ACLU, Rebecca Turner of the Defender General’s Office, and Ben Battles and Rachel Smith of the Attorney General’s Office for a discussion of how the First Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the peoples’ rights to speak and protest.

Topics discussed include:

a brief overview of the First Amendment and the rights it protects
the right to protest
free speech and the police
students’ free speech rights

Free Speech and Public Access TV 02/16/2019

This film brings together a number of video documentations by DeeDee Halleck, one of the founders of Paper Tiger TV, from the 70's through to the recently lost Supreme Court Case.

PTTV, founded on the ideal that freedom of speech through access to the means of communication is essential in a democratic society, regularly exposed the hidden agenda of the mainstream media and questioned the powerful grip of corporate influence on media content to become the first nationally disseminated public access television program. Dee Dee Halleck, one of the original founders of PTTV puts it this way, “It is one thing to critique the mass media and rail against their abuses. It is quite another to create viable alternatives.” PTTV has been recognized for critical analysis of information sources and for being on the cutting edge of video with screenings, exhibits and installations in museums and galleries around the world. In many cases, PTTV productions are invaluable video documentation of the ideas and insights of some of our nation’s most notable media critics and public intellectuals.

For more information: Jerome Lipani, Independent Artist <jeromelipani@gmail.com>.

FOCUS: The Supreme Court Supplied a Blueprint to Overcome Citizens United 02/06/2017

James Marc Leas, patent lawyer from South Burlington, Vermont, talks with FOCUS host Margaret Harrington about how to cancel the dominance of the 1 percent over all levels of government that the Supreme Court created with its decisions in Buckley v. Valeo and Citizens United. Money in politics is the issue and Leas gives a legal argument that the United States Supreme Court overturned the Nevada Supreme Court decision regarding a Nevada case involving money influence on a legislator's vote deciding that voting on a city council or in the legislature is an official act, not speech. The Supreme Court held that the First Amendment reasoning in Buckley and Citizens United "has no application when what is restricted is not protected speech."