[Foundation-l] Glad we are not in New Jersey

Thu Mar 9 22:19:55 UTC 2006

Patrick, Brad wrote:
> Our projects are forums.  Always and forever.  Remember that please!!

Yes.

And to answer Gerard's philosophical quesstion, if in the extremely
unlikely case that Florida and/or the United States became a hostile
jurisdiction for the freedom of speech, we would explore our legal
alternatives to leave for another jurisdiction.  Of course.

However, a couple of points...

1. This proposed law was so stupid that even the author of it quickly
backed down, as I understand news reports.  It will go nowhere.

2. It was almost certainly unconstitutional under the First Amendment
anyway.  "Under our Constitution, anonymous pamphleteering is not a
pernicious, fraudulent practice, but an honorable tradition of advocacy
and of dissent. Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority."
(US Supreme Court ruling from 1995)

Wikipedia would, indeed, make a marvelous example of the value of
anonymous speech.

--Jimbo