Regarding the article of Jan. 19 on page 3A entitled, “Bill: Resident asks for sanction of expletive”
I received an attorney general’s opinion letter written by Kathryn M. Rowe, assistant attorney general telling me that she, “cannot recognize a right ... to use the (F) word ... in any public meeting in which he happens to find himself.”
I forwarded this opinion letter to Prof. Christopher M. Fairman of Ohio State’s Moritz College of Law and author of the book subtitled, “Word Taboo and Protecting Our First Amendment Liberties,” available at your local library.
In his e-mail response Prof. Fairman told me, “The silly opinion letter penned by the assistant AG is wrong on her application of the law. It is evident from the commissioner’s request for you to actually change the words that you were using that he was trying to suppress pure political speech, not implement a content-neutral time, place, manner restriction.”
We, as citizens protected by the First and 14th Amendments, should never allow a politician like Commissioner Mike McKay or school board President Sara Beth James to suppress pure political speech of any citizen.
That is why I am asking for an attorney general’s opinion on this matter through Sen. George Edwards and the Western Maryland Delegation.
The reader may not like this expletive or its use in a public meeting but it is protected speech. If you do not believe me, read Rosenfeld V. New Jersey, decided May 7, 1973.
Quoting from Rosenfeld V. New Jersey, “Justice Harlan’s opinion for the Court in Cohen specifically pointed out that ‘the State has no right to cleans public debate to the point where it is grammatically palatable to the most squeamish among us.’”
Kevin Shaffer
LaVale
Letters
It may not be for the squeamish, but it’s still protected speech
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Which buck is it, and where is it supposed to stop?
Barack Obama has made Nixon look like a choir boy! “Obama worse than Nixon” the supermarket tabloid’s headlines read recently.
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Theft of car’s bike rack sour note during Scouts’ visit here
On the evening of June 6, while our Boy Scout troop camped at the Paw Paw Tunnel (Route 51, Mile 156.2 of the C&O Canal) someone stole our bike rack.
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All ‘gave some,’ but these from our local area truly ‘gave all’
Between June 14 (Flag Day) and July 4 (Independence Day), I’m responding to several recent editorials and letters to the editor.
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Freedom isn’t exactly what he thinks it is
In the June 2 Times-News, R. Steele Selby (“Just how free are we?) defines freedom as “the capacity to do whatever he or she wants to do” and asserts that this definition is “most likely nearly universal.”
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What Maryland calls the Fair Share Act isn’t fair at all
The Fair Share Act was passed in 2009. This law allowed for service fees to be part of the collective bargaining process.
The law does not mandate that service fees be negotiated, it simply provides that they can be. -
We have lots to show for our education dollars
I would like to take this opportunity to respond to Judith Weller’s latest anti-education diatribe, “The money they already have isn’t being spent wisely,” (June 3).
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Western Md. Veterans continues its mission
My name is Dan Brashear, I am the founder and director of Western Maryland Veterans.
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Maybe the cyclists and casino workers should be armed
Again, unfortunately I have to remind Don Carns Jr. of Beans Cove, Pa., on his latest repeatedly inaccurate letter published June 10 in the Cumberland Times-News (“Township is nothing like either Pittsburgh or Philadelphia”).
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Let’s all kick in $1 to help save Frostburg’s Palace Theatre
As a former resident, I have many fond memories of the Palace Theatre (“Theater wall crumbles: Palace exterior collapses, unfit for entry: officials,” June 6 Times-News, Page 1A).
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Develop the waterway
Since the debate over removing the dam started about four years ago, I have been concerned about the effect the dam removal would have on the area’s welfare.
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Which buck is it, and where is it supposed to stop?
