Last week Sgt. Gary Stein of the United States Marine Corp was given an "other than honorable" discharge for a comment he posted on Facebook about President Obama. Stein's message on Facebook read, "Screw Obama. I will not follow all orders from him." He later remarked that he meant that he would not follow unlawful orders from the president. Stein served the country for nine years and said he no one could take the title of "Marine" away from him. Stein seemed most troubled by how just a few words ended his military career as well as affected his military benefits. His lawyer is now trying to appeal the judgment.
When one serves for the armed forces of the United States they take an oath stating that they will follow as well as respect all given orders by the Commander in Chief. However, this situation really has issues with Stein's First Amendment rights. Stein should be allowed to say whatever he wants about the president as long as it isn't life threatening. I think the major problem and why Stein was discharged was because he did not make these comments among a group of friends but instead posted it on a social media site for the entire world to see.
Showing posts with label First Amendment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label First Amendment. Show all posts
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Against the Law to Talk About the Bible Publicly?
A California reverend was arrested last year for reading the Bible out loud in front of a DMV building. The charge was that he was intimidating the public (those waiting to get inside the DMV) by making them listen to God's word. The case has now become part of public concern because of the media and that the case is now in trial.
Reverend Mark Mackey of the conservative Christian church, Calvary Chapel Hemet, said all he was doing was using his First Amendment right of freedom of speech in a public place. He went on to say, “You can talk about anything you want, but you can’t talk about the Bible.”
The reason he was arrested, was that he was forcing and intimidating those waiting to get inside of the not yet opened DMV, said constitutional attorney Dan Conaway. He went on by saying that he was creating an intimidating situation for those just wanting to renew their driver's license.
However, what has this great nation come to that now our First Amendment laws are being violated more and more with regards to freedom of speech. This right is protected and should be respected by law enforcement. The DMV was not even open for business yet so they had no right to arrest him in the first place. If Mackey would have been preaching or ranting about anything else, most likely nothing would have happened to him. But since he was speaking about God and the Bible, he was treated as a criminal and arrested for his beliefs. I hope this wakes up the people of America and for them to start fighting for the rights that this country was born on and stop letting those rights slowly slip away.
Reverend Mark Mackey of the conservative Christian church, Calvary Chapel Hemet, said all he was doing was using his First Amendment right of freedom of speech in a public place. He went on to say, “You can talk about anything you want, but you can’t talk about the Bible.”
The reason he was arrested, was that he was forcing and intimidating those waiting to get inside of the not yet opened DMV, said constitutional attorney Dan Conaway. He went on by saying that he was creating an intimidating situation for those just wanting to renew their driver's license.
However, what has this great nation come to that now our First Amendment laws are being violated more and more with regards to freedom of speech. This right is protected and should be respected by law enforcement. The DMV was not even open for business yet so they had no right to arrest him in the first place. If Mackey would have been preaching or ranting about anything else, most likely nothing would have happened to him. But since he was speaking about God and the Bible, he was treated as a criminal and arrested for his beliefs. I hope this wakes up the people of America and for them to start fighting for the rights that this country was born on and stop letting those rights slowly slip away.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Political Junk Text Messaging Scandal
In the recent election it seems that Americans are connected in every way possible through the media and social networking sites. But when is it too much?
Republican voters living in Michigan have been swindled in buying political junk test messages on their phones. The ones receiving these messages start off with a short message attacking another candidate. The voters then are given a number to text to get more details on the situation. Without even telling the voters, every time one texts the number that they are given, they end up getting charged for each individual text message. At 10 to 25 cents per message it might not seem like a lot, but the messages are too long to send in one message so multiple ones are being sent. Some of these voters have been charged substantial amounts.
In my opinion I think that the government should step in and do something about it. As of now, it is protected under the First Amendment of free speech. However, since the voters are not being notified of the costs of these messages, it is also like deceptive advertising. Who would have thought that after all of the laws the United States and the government run SEC have put into place that government officials would be breaking these advertising laws?
Republican voters living in Michigan have been swindled in buying political junk test messages on their phones. The ones receiving these messages start off with a short message attacking another candidate. The voters then are given a number to text to get more details on the situation. Without even telling the voters, every time one texts the number that they are given, they end up getting charged for each individual text message. At 10 to 25 cents per message it might not seem like a lot, but the messages are too long to send in one message so multiple ones are being sent. Some of these voters have been charged substantial amounts.
In my opinion I think that the government should step in and do something about it. As of now, it is protected under the First Amendment of free speech. However, since the voters are not being notified of the costs of these messages, it is also like deceptive advertising. Who would have thought that after all of the laws the United States and the government run SEC have put into place that government officials would be breaking these advertising laws?
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