Eugene Volokh On The ADL and Free Speech
07/01/2009
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First Amendment expert Eugene Volokh writes

Anti-Defamation League Regional Director Asserts That "Freedom of Speech Does Not Extend to Racist Groups":

That's the view of Alan Potash, the ADL's regional director for Nebraska, Iowa, and Kansas. Pretty appalling, it seems to me — simply false as a statement of current free speech law (which it sounds like it is), and deeply misguided as a matter of what the law should be.

And in the wake of attempts to condemn Israeli policies as racist, it should be pretty clear to American Jews that such a position could easily be turned around them. After all, any university administration that takes the view that Israeli actions towards the Palestinians are racist could easily conclude that defenders of those actions are racist as well, and therefore suspended or driven off campus. Or how about Orthodox Jews (and perhaps quite a few other Jews as well) who believe that homosexuality is against God's will? Once "racist groups" lose their free speech rights, it's hard to see why "homophobic groups" wouldn't equally lose them.[More]

Volokh ends his post by hoping that the "national ADL promptly condemns Mr. Potash's statements." Seeing as how the National ADL is in the middle of a campaign for the hate crimes bill, this seems unlikely.

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