August Newsletter

All politics in 2020 is not only local, it is personal. Educating voters is key. People have to come to care about what the elections mean and how they affect them personally. Some 30,000 foot, simple examples include:

• R's stand for law and order and support law enforcement.
• R's seek to grow the economy, providing prosperity for all and increased government funding, rather than raising taxes and imposing additional regulations.
• R's led the way to better funded schools and reduced local property taxes. 

Democrats and the media have been able to criticize the President, but when their candidates are examined, we will see how far left they are with unaffordable universal health care, an economy-destroying Green New Deal, and campaign to rewrite and erase history and now a push to defund the police. These ideas are beyond radical. As a package, these socialist policies will make our economy look like those in Venezuela, Cuba or Russia. The election is not only about President Trump and his personality. That is a media focus, but we all need to look deeper. 

More is at stake in this 2020 election than most folks realize. Yes, the White House is in play but so is the Texas State House and with it, the next round of redistricting. National Democrat groups will be sending millions to Texas to influence our State House elections. Their goal is to tilt our United States Congressional delegation to the Democrat side with the maps that will be drawn in the Texas House next spring. If they prevail, Democrat's will control the US Congress for a long time. 

Campaigns build from education to mobilization. Now is the time to educate and plan how we will turn people out in less than 90 days. Each individual needs to look at their circles of influence (family, work, church, clubs, hobbies, etc.) and tap into them to strengthen relationships now. Social media can really expand your footprint and influence. Use it. People believe their friends more than the media or political ads.  

When the time comes to vote, only by going all the way through the ballot, voting for Republicans, can we restore law and order and respect for the will of the people. Turn out will be everything.

What can you personally do?

• Get everyone you know registered.
• Get them to the polls.
• Get them to get their friends to vote.

One need look no further than Portland, Seattle, Chicago, and other Democrat led cities to see what our future under a federal so-called progressive led government would look like. That story is playing out right before our very eyes.

Identify your circle—write down their names, phone numbers, emails. Reach out to them. Turn interested citizens into actual voters. Bring a non-voter to the polls—new 18-year-olds, new neighbors. Tell them, “Vote all the way through the ballot and vote for every Republican.” 

Voter turn-out is everything. That makes it personal.

• Making calls for red dialer and 10K for 10R
• Helping a candidate's team make and distribute masks, work on postcard campaign, volunteer in their office
• Attending zoom meetings, and SD convention
• Helping at Harris County GOP office
• Voter registration. 

• One set of doors for entry. Look for our staff and poster with requirements.
• Norris Staff will be wearing face shields and gloves.
• Guests should have and use a face mask - if required by local authorities. We strongly encourage their usage.
• Guests will have their temperature read by Laser Thermometer - Temps less than 100° will gain entry. Temps greater than 100° will be asked to leave for their safety and that of others.
• Once cleared, guests will be given a stick-on dot so they may re-enter the facility if they should need to go to their car. 
• Hygiene stations will be available in the lobbies. 
• Common Areas/Bathrooms - Please practice Social Distancing at all times. Furniture will be set up for Social Distancing
• Constant cleaning – Norris will be cleaning on a continuous basis. Bathrooms will have stalls and sinks closed/blocked for Social Distancing

• Mary Grace Landrum with VRW (americanism@villagerepublicanwomen.org, 713-722-8307) or
• Rhonda Anderson (TFRW Director of Voter Engagement and Texans for Greg Abbott, 678-977-1833, Randerson@gregabbott.com)

James Madison drafted the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  It was ratified by the states on March 1, 1792.  It reads:
 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The Amendment prohibits any laws that establish a national religion, impede the free exercise of religion, abridge the freedom of speech, infringe upon the freedom of the press, interfere with the right to peaceably assemble, or prohibit citizens from petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances.

The remainder of this article focuses on free speech and the right to peaceably assemble.  It is an attempt to clarify what local, state, and federal authorities can and cannot do in the face “protests” that become violent or were intended to be violent from the beginning.  

SCOTUS Is the Ultimate Authority.
The Supreme Court interprets the extent of the protection afforded to First Amendment rights. Over the past centuries, the Court has honed the definition, through various rulings. For example, it decided "free speech" includes the right not to speak; to speak symbolically (e.g., burning the American flag as a means of protest); to contribute money to political campaigns, although only in certain circumstances; and to utter certain offensive words and phrases when you're trying to convey a political message.

The Amendment has been interpreted by the Court as applying to the entire federal government even though it is only expressly applicable to Congress. And the Court has interpreted the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as protecting the rights in the First Amendment from interference by state governments.  

The First Amendment Prevents Government Interference and Censorship.
First, note that the Amendment starts with the phrase “Congress shall make no law”.  That means that the government cannot restrict free speech, but private citizens can. The government is permitted to make laws regarding the conduct related to speech, such as by stating when speech may be provided, where it may be provided and how it can be communicated. Courts generally uphold these types of regulations as long as they are considered content-neutral and not directed only at prohibiting the expression of certain ideas. For example, the government may prohibit demonstrations at certain locations, may limit the size of a poster used for speech and may limit the amount of sound that can be heard at specific times.

Many people fail to understand that the concept of free speech only applies to the federal, state and local government. But private entities such as Facebook, Twitter and Craigslist certainly can (and do), by deleting posts they deem racist, obscene, violent or undesirable. This is how they are able to target conservative messages that contradict their ideology. This is also why a private employer can fire you for social media posts, but a government employer cannot.

Exceptions to Free Speech.
Also there are limitations on the categories of speech which are protected by the First Amendment.  According to the Supreme Court of the United States, the U.S. Constitution protects free speech while allowing for limitations on certain categories of speech. Although different scholars view unprotected speech in different ways, there are several categories of speech that are given lesser or no protection:

1. Obscenity (Particularly Child Pornography) – In 1973 SCOTUS held in order for material to be obscene, it must, on the whole, “appeal to the prurient interest in sex” (as judged by contemporary community standards), depict or describe sexual conduct (as specifically defined by state law) in a patently offensive way, and lack “serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.”  Since that time, most cases involving the obscenity exception  have dealt with child pornography.
2. Child Pornography – In 1982 SCOTUS recognized child pornography as a category of unprotected speech separate from obscenity, in part because the advertising and sale of such materials is integral to the underlying criminal conduct of their production.
3. Fighting words - Years ago the Supreme Court recognized a very narrow 1st Amendment exception for "fighting words." If the exception still survives, it's limited to in-person face-to-face insults directed at a particular person and likely to provoke a violent response from that person. It doesn't apply broadly to offensive speech, even though it's often invoked to justify censoring such speech.
4. Defamation (including libel and slander) false statements of fact about a person—are not protected speech, the Court has also recognized that the prospect of civil or criminal penalties for making such statements might hamper free speech. Accordingly, under certain circumstances, the First Amendment requires a party alleging defamation to demonstrate that the speaker acted with a certain level of intent.
5. Speech integral to illegal conduct – for example Perjury or Blackmail or threatening the President of the United States. Title 18 Section 871 of the United States Code makes it illegal to knowingly and willfully make "any threat to take the life of, to kidnap, or to inflict bodily harm upon the president of the United States." This also applies to any "President-elect, Vice President or other officer next in the order of succession to the office of President, or Vice President-elect." This law is distinct from other forms of true threats because the threatener does not need to have the actual capability to carry out the threat, meaning prisoners can also be charged.
6. Incitement to imminent lawless action - speech can't be punished as "incitement" unless it is intended and likely to provoke imminent lawless action.
7. True threats – True threats—as distinguished from “political hyperbole”—occur when the speaker “means to communicate a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group of individuals.”
8. Solicitations to commit crimes - The Court has cited this rule as one reason the government may prohibit, for example, conspiracy or solicitation to commit a crime, offers or requests to obtain illegal material, or impersonating a government officer.
9. Fraud  - the government may regulate fraudulent speech in order to prevent public or consumer deception.

 In any of the above exceptions, the government may impose civil and/or criminal penalties because the speech is not considered protected. Some experts also would add treason, if committed verbally, to that list. Plagiarism of copyrighted material, speech that violates intellectual property law, and commercial speech such as advertising are also not protected.

You Do NOT Have the Right to Not Be Offended.
Many of our mothers taught us “If you cannot say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”   While a laudable goal for manners, and preventing conflict, it has nothing to do with protected speech. No one has the right not to be offended. 

The government cannot pass a law, civil or criminal, holding someone liable for offending you. Stated differently offensive language is protected speech unless it falls into one of the exceptions stated above. 

Censorship advocates often tell us we need to balance the freedom of speak with the harm that speech does. This is arguable philosophically, but it is wrong legally. American courts don't decide whether to protect speech by balancing its harm against its benefit; they ask only if it falls into a specific 1st Amendment exception.

For example, many people think “Hate Speech” is not free speech. There is no general 1st Amendment exception allowing the government to punish "hate speech". Things we call "hate speech" might occasionally fall into an existing 1st Amendment exception: a racist speech might seek to incite imminent violence against a group, or might be reasonably interpreted as an immediate threat to do harm. But "hate speech," like other ugly types of speech we despise, is broadly protected.

For decades the court has been moving towards more vigorous protection of free speech, not less. Some of the most controversial and unpopular speech to come before the court — like videos of animals being tortured, or incendiary Westboro Baptist Church protests at funerals — have yielded solid 8-to-1 majorities in favor of protecting speech.

The Right to Peaceable Assembly.
The right to assemble allows people to gather for peaceful and lawful purposes. Implicit within this right is the right to association and belief. The Supreme Court has expressly recognized that a right to freedom of association and belief is implicit in the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments. This implicit right is limited to the right to associate for First Amendment purposes. It does not include a right of social association. The government may prohibit people from knowingly associating in groups that engage and promote illegal activities.

Recommended Reading:

• Guelzo, Allen, Free Speech and Its Present Crisis; 2018, The Magazine - A long but well informed article written two years ago tying the teachings of Marxism, and our education system to the current free speech crisis. Allen C. Guelzo is the Henry R. Luce Professor of the Civil War Era, Director of Civil War Era Studies at Gettysburg College, and the author of Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President and other books.
• Congressional Research Service -Biography to Supreme Court Cases Defining exceptions cited above.