Tag Archives: ZZ: Brown v. EMO

Stanley Fish at the NYTimes.com: And there you have it: a clash between the worship of freedom of speech and a concern for the quality of public life in relation to which free speech may sometimes be asked to take a back seat. It is the same clash that pits the freedom to play video games against society’s interest in fostering a generation of young adults responsive to its ideals and aspirations. We have seen this before — in the pornography cases, in the crush-video case, in the case upholding the right of an anti-gay ministry to picket the funerals of soldiers — and we shall certainly see it again.

Terence P. Jeffrey at Townhall: “The practice and beliefs of the founding generation establish that ‘the freedom of speech,’ as originally understood, does not include a right to speak to minors (or a right of minors to access speech) without going through the minors’ parents or guardians,” wrote Thomas. But Thomas was a dissenter. Justice Antonin Scalia — a conservative — wrote the majority opinion in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association.

A recent Supreme Court case reveals a division amongst conservatives over the moral foundations of the law.

Dissenting in a free-speech ruling about violent video games, Justice Clarence Thomas said the First Amendment was written at a time when parents were understood to exercise complete control over minor children.

Rasmussen Reports: A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that two-out-of-three American Adults (67%) believe states should be allowed to prohibit the sale or rental of violent video games to minors. Just 28% disagree.

Phyllis Schlafly at Townhall : The U.S. Supreme Court got it wrong in Brown v. Entertainment Merchant Association. This wasn’t a First Amendment case, it was a parents’ rights case — and only Justice Clarence Thomas understood that.