Letter: Court violates speech freedoms

Monday, July 10, 2000 | 9:18 a.m.

If I wanted to speak about gun ownership, is there an 8-foot barricade stopping me from talking to gun purchasers?

If I wanted to voice my opinion about animal rights, is there an 8-foot barricade prohibiting me from talking to consumers in a fur store?

If I wanted to save the forests from lumberjacks, is there an 8-foot barricade around saw mills?

If I wanted to protest nuclear testing, is there an 8-foot barricade at the gate to the Nevada Test Site?

If I wanted to speak to union members about problems in their local, is there an 8-foot barricade at the union hall?

Obviously no!

The only constraint on freedom of speech is someone talking to another outside an abortion clinic. This is Big Brother censuring our freedom and determining what we can and cannot talk about. That is the issue, and the Supreme Court has erred in undermining one of our fundamental rights.

Happy birthday, indeed!

MARSHA NORTON

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