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Subj: **SUBMIT STORY**
Date: 1/30/98 11:49:07 PM Pacific Standard Time
From: concerned@private.com
To: Randy@freeminds.org
Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted by
(concerned@private.com) on Friday, January 30, 1998 at 23:49:01
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Subject: legal issues
Comments: Did you know that the Vice-President of the Watchtower Society
defended a JW for "obscenity" before the US Supreme Court (315 US 568
1941) and tried to get the JW off for "Freedom of Speech"? (the JW
lost, of course, because the Supreme Court said Free Speech does not protect
"obscenity and fighting words" - and this is as it should be. I am
outraged at the Watchtower Society! I thought that the Watchtower Society's
Lawyers would pursue legal issues that ONLY relate to issues for the benefit of
"God's interests" - what a terrible witness to the Judge and everyone
else invloved! And, most importantly, why is this information kept secret?!
Have you ever heard of a witness named "Chaplinsky"? I looked in the
Watchtower CD rom and found nothing. But I did learn the Hayden Covington was
Vice President of the Watchtower in the first years of Knorr's presidency (Jan
1942 to Sep 1945). Fred Franz replaced Covington when he stepped down, I found
that on the CD rom when I looked up Covington.
But, here is why I asked: Guess what I found?! I was researching all the links
on "Freedom of Speech" as ruled by the US Supreme Court - and was I
shocked to find a case invloving Jehovah's Witnesses in 1942! The Lawyer for the
suit was Hayden Covington!
Here is what the web page says:
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The Facts of the Case
Chaplinsky, a Jehovah's Witness, called a city marshal a "God-damned
racketeer" and "a damned fascist" in a public place. He was
arrested and convicted under a state law for violating a breach of the peace.
The Constitutional Question
Does the application of the statute violate Chaplinsky's freedom of speech
protected by the First Amendment?
The Conclusion
No. Some forms of expression--among them obscenity and fighting words--do not
convey ideas and thus are not subject to First Amendment protection. In this
case, Chaplinsky uttered fighting words, i.e., words that "inflict injury
or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace."
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Chaplinsky v. State of New Hampshire
http://court.it-services.nwu.edu/oyez/cases/case.pl?case_id=69
(to see Hayden Covington's name click on "Written Opinions of the
Court" at the bottom of that web page)
from a concerned free thinker
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