Free Speech
The article on the Jack Gerritsen affair (Metro, May 15) was very well done, and more than that, it hit at the very heart and soul of our democracy--the right to be represented, the right to have our voices heard, the right to have our points of view considered.
However, before we congratulate ourselves too heartily we should look at the dates. From 1983 to 1993 Gerritsen was denied his right to express his ideas by the City of Los Angeles. Justice delayed is justice denied.
Not only are the federal courts so awfully slow as to be almost meaningless, but their timid, halfhearted narrowing of the right of free speech to “a limited public forum” (inside the blue lines in this case) makes you wonder if their hearts are really in it, or are they only giving lip service to the words of the Constitution and then only after so long a time that their judgment will have little or no practical effect.
JIM ARMSTRONG
Downey
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