“Cyber-harassment” and speech codes

Eugene Volokh and Scott Greenfield worry that free speech could be the loser from a buzz of law school interest in the topic of “cyber-stalking” or “cyber-harassment” — rather broadly couched in one description to include law students’ “using websites to make outrageous gender– or race-specific comments.” Volokh:

I’m sure that most backers of these restrictions would stress that of course they’re not trying to shut down substantive debate, only incivility. But once viewpoint-based restrictions are accepted, once speech can be suppressed because it’s “outrageous” or “smearing,” it’s pretty hard to have much confidence that substantive (but to some “outrageous”) discussion of ideas will remain untouched; and even if actual punishments for such speech are rare, the risk of punishment may powerfully deter the substantive debate as well as the nonsubstantive smears (of which I agree there is plenty). That has certainly been the experience with “civility codes” at university campuses, and governmentally coerced restrictions on “harassment” in workplaces.

Our growing government

Notwithstanding Barack Obama’s claim of a spending freeze on discretionary spending, Roger Clegg finds that the Obama Justice Department’s proposed budget calls for 22 new attorneys to bring “disparate-impact” cases—presumably the ones too weak to find a trial lawyer willing to take it on. And we can be quite confident that there won’t be any disparate impact against Federalist Society members when they do that hiring, right?

“The greatest risk is living swaddled in bubble wrap”

What some have labelled “a worst-case scenario” approach to daily life has even reached Whitehall, the seat of [British] government itself. In front of the magnificent horse guards who stand guard in rain and shine to the delight of tourists, someone has placed an official sign on the pavement explaining, just in case humanity hadn’t twigged the fact, that “these horses may kick or bite”.

[Michael Simkins, National (Emirates) via Legal Blog Watch]