Colorado Professor and the 1st Amendment

Re “The Freedom to Be Vile,” editorial, Feb. 15: Having just returned from a month in Boulder, I had the opportunity to observe up close and read in the local newspaper (Daily Camera) about the goings-on regarding Ward Churchill. Of course, he has a 1st Amendment right to express his views; some say this will stimulate an open forum for discussion. But what Churchill has chosen to do is to demonize the victims of 9/11, who cannot defend themselves.

Churchill really doesn’t get it. What he shows is a total lack of sensitivity and decency, and a basic lack of understanding of fair play and human understanding.

Leo M. (Mike) Smith

Manhattan Beach

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Churchill has the right to say whatever he likes; he just does not have a right to be a professor at the University of Colorado. He may or may not have a contractual right to keep his job regardless of mindless declarations he may make, but his constitutional free-speech rights are not affected by his firing.

Let him write letters to the editor, speak on a downtown corner, contract skywriting or whatever. He can express himself all day long without anyone infringing on his free-speech rights.

James C. Slack

Tampa, Fla.