Erwin Chemerinsky: Arrested Students At UC Irvine Heckling The Israeli Ambassador To The U.S. "Can't Claim 1st Amendment Rights"

To read the article which appeared in the Los Angeles Times visit http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-chemerinsky18-2010feb18,0,2972313.story.

In the article, UC Irvine Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky explains that "[f]reedom of speech, on campuses and elsewhere, is rendered meaningless if speakers can be shouted down by those who disagree. The law is well established that the government can act to prevent a heckler's veto -- to prevent the reaction of the audience from silencing the speaker. There is simply no 1st Amendment right to go into an auditorium and prevent a speaker from being heard, no matter who the speaker is or how strongly one disagrees with his or her message. The remedy for those who disagreed with the ambassador was to engage in speech of their own, but in a way that was not disruptive. They could have handed out leaflets, stood with picket signs, spoken during the question-and-answer session, held a demonstration elsewhere on campus or invited their own speakers... Within the university, the punishment should be great enough to convey that the conduct was wrong and unacceptable, but it should not be so severe as to ruin these students' educational careers. As a matter of 1st Amendment law, this is an easy case. It would be so no matter the identity or views of the speaker or of the demonstrators. Perhaps some good can come from this ugly incident if the university uses it as an occasion to help teach its students about the meaning of free speech and civil discourse." Tweet