What's My Take: America is NOT a "Free Speech Zone"

In J.J. Jackson's October 22 article, "America is a 'Free Speech Zone,'" the author brings up the recent story of Professor James South at Marquette University. Professor South, for the unaware, has come under fire for telling a graduate student in his philosophy department (Mr. South is the chairman of the department) to remove a political sign from his door.

The offending material? A simple sign with the quote: "[A]s Americans we must always remember that we all have a common enemy, an enemy that is dangerous, powerful and relentless. I refer of course to the federal government." Innocuous, right? Well Prof. South did not want it in his department and replied that hallways and doors are not "free speech zones."

Mr. Jackson is outraged at this idea. He not only agrees with the quote, but points out that Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton agreed with it, too. He accuses Prof. South of liberal bias and he goes on a long tirade about how the government tries to stop free speech by creating "free speech zones" and he even concludes by saying academic freedom and political freedom with respect to the hallways are the same thing.

Here's the news: they're not and they never have been.

The 1st Amendment to the United States Constitution states that "Congress shall pass no law." The Freedom of Speech granted to all of us as a right of being United States citizens has - gasp - limits. One of these happens to be in a corporate setting. An employer can regulate your work space. They can tell you what you can and cannot say while on the job.

Marquette University is a private employer. The graduate student has his office because a private employer leased it to him for use with his students and for his research. If the chairman of the department deems that something on his doorway is sending an inappropriate message to clientele of the business (students, in this case) or to the public, he has every right in the book to tell that graduate student to clean his door. Free speech does not apply to private employment. It never has, and it probably never will.

Academic freedom is an entirely different concept. Whereas the issue with the hallway involves an employer regulating the office environment, academic freedom has to do with the department allowing its students to explore any subject of academic merit. Yet again, this has nothing to do with 1st Amendment Free Speech rights. It is, instead, a departmental philosophy of a private corporation. Public workspace appearance and the direction of the actual work are mutually exclusive. Neither has much to do with the 1st Amendment in this particular case.

Finally, J.J. Jackson is wrong when he acts as though the 1st Amendment is absolute and gives him (or any of us) the right to political speech whenever and wherever he wills. America is not completely a "free speech zone" and it never has been. Employers - regardless of whether they receive federal funding or not (and research grants and student loans are given to individuals and not Marquette, for the record) - can regulate their work spaces.

Public schools can regulate student speech to promote a "healthy learning environment" regardless of how that is defined by the administrators of the school. In high school, we were not allowed to wear "Californication" tee-shirts, and we wouldn't have been even if the Red Hot Chili Peppers were running for Senate. You are not allowed to give praise to the "Fire" political party in a crowded public place. Local communities have always held the right to regulate appropriate time and place for any political demonstration.

Understanding where this thing we call "Free Speech" begins and ends in reality is important for American citizens. Free Speech does not mean you have the right to just say anything you want whenever you want to say it; there are defined rules and there is a century-and-a-half of jurisprudence to show for it. Why our high school civics classes would rather do "make your own political party" than actually teach the 1st Amendment is beyond me. But is imperative that people understand that you do not have the implicit right to burn a cross in your yard or have news published in the local paper or do a Nazi goose-step by a Synagogue or even post a political cartoon on your door at work.

Do I agree that the restrictions on the 1st Amendment are what the founders had in mind, or even are what's best for America? No, of course not. And yes, I think it's silly to ask a student to take down a humorous quote. But one must not lie about rights we do not have. Oh, and newsflash Mr. Jackson, if the Supreme Court says the same thing they've been saying for over a century with regards to free speech, then yes, it is true, it exists, and you had better face it.

Prof. James South did nothing wrong. He regulated the business space in his charge. Welcome to American reality. There is nothing at Marquette to get one's undergarments in a bunch.

Obla-di, Obla-da, life goes on.