Thursday, February 18, 2010

Today's Show: Muzzling Speech in Name of Fighting Terror

4:30pm EST The Supreme Court is hearing a case that pits free speech against fighting terrorism. Ralph Fertig, a civil rights lawyer with the Humanitarian Law Project, believes that every group is entitled to "peaceful resolutions of their conflicts," and in that spirit wants to help a Kurdish group the U.S. government charges has engaged in terrorism. But American law currently bans Fertig from doing so, in what critics contend is a McCarthyistic muzzling of free speech and freedom of association.

Shane Kadidal is a senior managing attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights and co-counsel for Mr. Fertig. Their position: "[T]he case concerned speech protected by the First Amendment 'promoting lawful, nonviolent activities,' including 'human rights advocacy and peacemaking.'" He joins us this afternoon to talk about it.

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