Letter: Thoughts on the 1st Amendment

If Glen Forsch wants to know who is impeding our 1st Amendment rights, he should look in the mirror. His overreactive letter admonishing Ms. Sharon Springer of trying to dismantle our Constitution was so far off-base that its only purpose served is to stifle discussion on her well-made points.

In her letter in the Feb. 13 Mailbag, Springer was simply asking for the City Council to address the reality of the rudeness that has become commonplace at council meetings. It is ludicrous to think that all speech, “no matter how unpleasant or offensive” on city business should be “without edit or consequence.” Sure, the offensive speech is protected, but it can and should be deliberated by the Council and hopefully the person responsible admonished.

There is often confusion about the 1st Amendment. The truth of the matter is that the 1st Amendment does protect most (not all) speech, it does not however, protect the person responsible from the consequences of that speech. Perhaps next time, rather than wasting time on this straw man argument, Mr. Forsch will debate the merits of Ms. Springer’s point of view.

Alfred Aboulsaad

Burbank