tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321349.post6726598202203655880..comments2024-03-18T22:21:33.261-07:00Comments on The Debate Link: Did Ann Coulter Really Want To Speak at Berkeley?David Schraubhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04946653376744012423noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321349.post-36255050303268646172017-04-26T21:37:35.619-07:002017-04-26T21:37:35.619-07:00(1) Berkeley did not "plot" to not let h...(1) Berkeley did not "plot" to not let her speak. Berkeley specifically offered her the opportunity to speak. Coulter rejected that opportunity.<br /><br />(2) There's no evidence of viewpoint discrimination by Berkeley. It was not her viewpoint which caused them to decide that having her speak "in a venue with a limited number of exits; in a hall that cannot be cordoned off; in an auditorium with floor to ceiling glass" was a bad idea, but rather security concerns rationally related to the preservation of law and order (and enabling her to talk). For example, even if Berkeley was obliged to commit to removing "unruly" students (by which I'm sure you mean students engaged in unlawful disruption, since of course quite a bit of protest even in the venue is itself First Amendment protected), it's sensible that they would say "we so commit, but in order to be able to do that effectively we need to have a room that we can effectively secure". More to the point, there's no evidence that a speaker with a different viewpoint who posed similar security risks would be treated differently.<br /><br />3) Berkeley exercised no heckler's veto. They imposed reasonable time, place, and manner conditions designed expressly so that Coulter could talk without incident. She decided she did not want to avail herself of the opportunity, then disingenuously cried martyrdom. David Schraubhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04946653376744012423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321349.post-77269954600550162802017-04-26T20:41:10.844-07:002017-04-26T20:41:10.844-07:00This is ridiculous. Coulter speaks all over the co...This is ridiculous. Coulter speaks all over the country and has given speeches at hundreds of campuses. She didn't plot for Berkeley to not let her speak - Berkeley plotted to not let her speak. Beyond the victim blaming, you have not shown a grasp of First Amendment law here. It was ghe University's responsibility as a government entity to treat the student group event exactly as it would any other student organization, lest it be guilty of viewpoint discrimination. If that entails, as Ms. Coulter suggested, committing to expel unruly students, and insisting that the police actually use police power to maintain order (rather than standing by during the mayhem at the Milo event, as video clearly depicts occuring), then that's what they have to do! <br /><br />There is no heckler's or rioter's veto. This is all super-settled case law. There's no more point in arguing about it than about whether the world is round or flat. It's round, and Coulter's free speech rights were violated.FranklinShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17340118821574626452noreply@blogger.com